Your Future
by penwithnopaper
Summary: What if Rick and Kate don't make it home after flying to California to hunt down who killed Royce? Except they're not dead however everyone they know will think that they are. What kind of future do these two have. One that they are going to have to make for themselves. Together. Minor amount of SciFi. - COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Your Future**

_Chapter 1_

_Now for the hard part, Kid. It's clear you and Castle have something real and you're fighting it. Trust me, putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder if only._

Kate already knew that she'd come dangerously close when she had opened her bedroom door to go back out and do, she wasn't sure what. Actually talk to him and ask him to wait for her to be ready? To really tell him why she wasn't ready? Or had she actually come to a conclusion that she was ready when she wasn't and hoped she wasn't making a mistake. Maybe even end up having sex and praying she didn't regret it the next day.

However, Rick had gone to his room and she was spared. Now she was shifting in her seat to look at him sleeping next to her. Royce was right, though. She was fighting it. He was dangerously close to reaching her heart and just last night she had come equally close to let him actually touch it. She really didn't know what to do. He was asleep so talking to him now was out. Though she could wake him up but that would be rude so letting him sleep was a better idea.

Then the plane dipped radically to the right side. It was sudden and severe. People not with their seat belts in place went flying. A few of the overhead bins opened and there were a lot of things flying around all over the place. Luggage, purses, ice from little plastic cups, said plastic cups, pens, and paper. Then terrifyingly the oxygen masks and their yellow bags fell from the ceiling.

Rick was now jolted awake. "KATE!" Rick grabbed hold of both of his armrests to try and stay seated just like Kate was doing.

"Castle!?" Kate felt her heart rate increase dramatically and her fear was palpable.

Rick had never had a fear of flying before but right now he was being pressed into the back of his seat and the g-force was only increasing. He still managed to get one of his hands to let go of his armrest and grab an oxygen mask. He handed it to Kate who actually managed to take it from him. That allowed Rick to grab another one. He struggled to put it on using just one hand since the other one was effectively glued to the armrest. His death grip of it wouldn't allow him to let go of it.

Rick looked at Kate with great effort; she was obviously scared to death. She at least had her oxygen mask on. Since that same hand was still free he reached for Kate's hand and clutched it, not worrying whether he was crushing it or not. He watched Kate twist her head just a little and look at him. They were still headed straight down and being pressed into the back of their seats further and further.

Then they weren't thinking anything else.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

Kate snapped her eyes open and found herself surrounded by a sea of people all crowded in next to her. However, save that she could see, her gaze fixed straight in front of her, nothing else moved.

Looking as hard as she could to her left she saw Castle standing right next to her. So close that they were shoulder to shoulder, except that she couldn't feel him. Kate tried to speak his name but nothing came out. So she tried again and really concentrated but still nothing came out.

Despite that now she saw his eyes looking at her. They'd always been pretty good at reading the other and she could tell he was struggling to say something but he couldn't speak just like she couldn't.

Though she could tell just by looking into his eyes what he was asking her.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked her.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Kate answered.

"We're not on a plane any longer so where are we?" Rick had seen someone right in front of him. So close that they were actually touching.

"What do you remember?" Kate quizzed him; they were investigators and they could figure this out.

"I was sleeping then we were crashing. Are we dead?" Rick questioned.

"We're not dead, Castle. We're not ghosts and it's not the CIA." Kate knew him very well and while there were times it grated on her she had learned to love some of it. But now wasn't one of those times. She beat him to it. "And it's not little green men from Mars or the little gray guys with big black eyes, either."

"Trying to spoil all my fun again, Kate?" Rick asked.

"Focus, Castle!" Kate wasn't in the mood for one of his out of this world ideas.

"Fine." Rick began listing everything he knew about their situation. "Not on a plane, not dead, not a ghost, you and the guy in front of me don't look burned."

"I can't move, even moving my eyes is difficult," Kate pointed out.

Then Rick noticed something. "Do you feel anything at all?"

"No, nothing." Kate shoved her fear down into a little box.

"How about your heartbeat? Can you hear anything at all?" Rick asked her.

"No, nothing. That doesn't mean we're dead, Castle." Kate wasn't interested in hearing that again.

"So what do you think happened?" Rick asked. Though she had a point. He was still thinking, he could see her, and in a way could figure out what she was thinking. So his mind was active.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

"We have a problem." A woman entered the room where the leader was just sitting there going over what plane was going to crash that they actually had information on, which was always their first problem.

"Explain." They had lots of problems, far more than they were ever going to solve. It was the reason for this project in the first place.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

The planet was so heavily polluted that it was impossible to clean. They didn't grow food any longer. There was no more natural fresh water. The atmosphere was so toxic that just stepping outside, even for them on the surface of the planet, meant death.

Their own bodies were decaying at an alarming rate. Those that were presently alive were all that was left of the human race; they were going to be the very last. The toxins had made certain of that. Everyone alive was now sterile. The last child that had been born naturally had happened years and years ago. Next came making babies in laboratories.

Then even that had started to slowly come to an end. It became more and more difficult to find viable DNA to match up to make babies with.

Countless years ago there were places that had frozen sperm and eggs for the future. That had come to an end in the last of the Reproduction Wars.

Reproduction War I had been a clandestine war. Small teams were sent in to try and steal what was stored in cryo tanks. Those that were caught had been tortured over and over again. It made what man had done to each other in previous wars look tame in comparison. Anything you thought about would pale in comparison.

Reproduction War II had been obvious to everyone. To succeed meant that the attacker couldn't destroy what the target had that they were after in the first place so once again small teams went into foreign countries to steal what everyone everywhere wanted.

But by then only those countries with the technology to store and use what was stored were the countries another country or even a wealthy individual were infiltrating. That meant they had the capability to protect and fight back.

Like the first war the second didn't actually kill that many people so the general public wasn't all that impacted by each event.

Then came the final Reproduction War III. This war resulted in outright threats to countries that had what the other side wanted. Finally someone introduced a man-made virus that didn't care who it infected. The population diminished by half in just months. Like any virus it didn't affect everyone on the planet and those that weren't affected now became what each nation wanted in addition to DNA that wasn't affected by everything else man had done. Everyone wanted an antidote.

However, one thing interacted with another and soon the sun's rays were scorching the planet into a burnt-out memory of itself. Fresh water lakes dried up, snow ceased to fall. It stopped raining anything and that included the acid rain that had been raining for a great many years.

Everything and everyone everywhere was now polluted or toxic. When the last of them died that would be the end of the human race forever. Communication with any other members of the human race in other areas of the planet no longer was possible or simply ignored.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

"Our power production has dropped to a dangerous level." He had feared this greatly. It took power to make this project work in the first place and they were the last place on the planet that had power. This project was the human race's last chance.

He wheeled his wheelchair out his door to find out what was wrong this time. "Stanley, talk to me." He needed answers but what he really needed was to hear it was fixable.

"We just lost a generator. We can't fix the broken parts and we can't make the parts. It's gone," Stanley said.

"How much power do we have?" Coventry asked him.

"That's not the right question to be asking. The correct question to ask is what happens when we lose another one. And we will lose another one," Stanley told him. They all knew that power was the last modern thing they still had and power was what they needed for the project to succeed.

Coventry already knew what losing another generator meant. All this time and all this effort would be for nothing. They wouldn't have the power to do anything. Everyone they had rescued would die and they would get to die with them. Though that wasn't right, either. The people they had rescued and stood here were so clean that even breathing one breath of what they breathed would mean death.

"We've reached the end of the project," Coventry stated and saw a lot of sad faces.

"We're dead and they're not. If we start we can't stop. We have just enough clean air to get them from holding and through the machine and that's all," Coventry was reminded.

"Wake them now. Power up the machine and send everything through. Make sure it comes from the clean storage and takes nothing from here with it…and them. I'll talk to them." Coventry wheeled his chair to an observation deck.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

Suddenly Rick and Kate were able to move. So could everyone else but they were packed in so tight people were getting stepped on and elbows were going places they shouldn't.

"Castle." She could touch him and she couldn't begin to express how thankful she was for that. She was sure they were all going to die so that they were both alive was wonderful.

Then everyone - and it was a lot of people - all began talking at the same time as well as trying to move.

Suddenly there was a blast from a horn that almost deafened everyone.

"I need your attention. We don't have much time." Rick and Kate and everyone else looked up at someone in a window high up the wall.

He looked terrible. He was deathly pale, his hair was orange and stuck out all over. Though his forehead was bald and the only hair he had was on the back of his head. He was also wearing some kind of suit. It almost looked like armor to Rick and Kate. And he had this thing at his throat.

"My name is Coventry. The year is 3011 and Planet Earth is dead. We are all that is left of the human race. When we are dead the human race will cease to be. We do however have a project. We have developed a time machine. We have been taking people off of airplanes just before they crash and storing you here in the future." Then people all began to talk at the same time.

The answer to that was hearing the horribly loud horn again which got everyone to shut up.

"We don't have time for this. Our power is failing and we need to complete the project or everything we have done will be for nothing.

"The project was to take people who were going to die and give them a chance at life. Everyone you know is long since dead and everyone believed that you were dead. You all died in a plane crash yet here you are.

"We will be sending you through the time machine along with everything we have that is deemed to be clean. You will be sent very far into the future where you can start again. Far enough into the future that the Earth will have had time to recover from all the pollution we have done.

"There is no clean water, no clean air, no clean land, nor wildlife of any kind on Earth in the year 3011. We are buried deep inside a mountain and access to the surface was closed years ago.

"You are the future of the human race. You have a choice, go through the door on the left that will take you to the time machine and start from scratch or go through the door on the right which will allow you entrance to where we live. This will result in your instant death since even our atmosphere is toxic. Or you can stay where you are and die a slow death.

"Make your choice and begin…NOW!" Coventry pressed the button to make the horn sound yet again to silence them and get them moving. "Do not repeat the same mistakes again. The human race has made a great many of them ever since the time man came to life."

Rick wasn't interested in waiting for the people farther forward to make up their minds. He took Kate's hand and started pushing. If his pushing got people to move so much the better.

"Let's go, Kate." Rick pushed the guy in front of him and managed to take a step. It took time but finally Rick was going through the door with Kate right behind him; he was squeezing her hand about as hard as he dared.

A quick look showed that a few people did go right. He wasn't interested in trying to convince them not to. He'd heard the warning and he took it to heart.

Soon they found themselves in a narrow one-person-at-a-time tunnel. It looked to be made of plexiglass. It allowed them both as well as everyone else to see what was in the area.

What they saw looked really old. It was gray where it could otherwise it looked like rust. The air looked like it had stuff floating in it everywhere and even it was gray and difficult to see through clearly.

"Castle?" Kate wasn't sure just what she was seeing.

"Just keep walking, Kate. Just keep walking." Rick took a step when the person in front of him allowed it though he was also pushing him to make sure he kept moving.

They both heard people talking but Rick ignored them and just tried to keep going.

They did see people here and there and each of them was dressed in the same same type of suit the other guy was wearing. Each had a thing at their throat. Then they walked out of view.

They turned a corner and in front of them was a bright light that looked a little like lightning flashing from one wall to another. "Castle?" Kate could see it and she watched as people went though then vanished. To her way of thinking it looked like they were burned up, stepping into that lightning. She had no interest in dying.

"Just keep walking, Kate. Or do you want to go where they are?" Rick pointed past the wall at the gray air. Kate granted he had a point. It looked sickly and dangerous. It was just that all that lightning looked just as dangerous.

They were soon just a few people behind and it was going to be their turn. Both of them saw people on the outside wearing those same suits and looking terribly sick, waving for them to go forward.

"Castle?" It was their turn and if they delayed it would slow everything down. Rick took a deep breath, stepped into the lightning, and pulled Kate behind him.

|_| **O** |_|**-|_|-**|_| **O** |_|

They both saw a lot of lightning and yet they didn't really feel anything. Not even ants crawling all over their skin. Then suddenly they fell onto the ground since they were off balance.

Looking up they saw people everywhere and they were lying on green grass with lots of tall trees around them. Rather unexpectedly someone landed on them which had them hustling to get out from under him and whoever came after him.

Scanning the area they saw a number of people, grass, wild flowers, tall large trees, blue skies with white clouds and save for the noise of some people talking and some wildlife, there was no other sound.

Kate was still holding Rick's hand tightly and was right next to him. "Where are we?"

"More like when are we," Rick responded and looked at Kate. "You saw what I did and heard what I did," he reminded her.

"Hollywood," Kate countered and turned to look at where they had come from and saw lightning in this tight circle. As she watched she saw people stumble out of it and fall to the grass. Only to get up when the person behind them landed on them.

"What's it doing?" Kate asked as she watched.

During the time they observed the lighting it became a little more erratic. Then a person came out, only this person came out in pieces. Like he had been cut into French fries. Then the lightning was gone.

Kate heard people who had seen it start screaming.

Rick and Kate had seen their fair share of dead bodies and since the lighting was gone they went up to the body and knelt down to look it over.

"She's been cut to pieces. Unless he had really long hair," Rick noted.

Kate looked her over. "I don't even recognize any internal organs. Clothing, flesh, even the bones have been cut into tiny pieces. I don't know of any machine that can do this."

"It's fresh. None of the blood is burgundy in color. This wasn't a dead body that someone hacked up and dropped here. It's still a little oozy looking," Rick mentioned.

"Yeah, this person only just died." Kate stood up and saw the people that were looking at the dead body and them. "Back to the first question. Where are we?" She ignored the _when_ Rick had offered. For now she was going to let him have his fun.

Rick glanced around. "Poplar, oak, pine, and I think that one's chestnut. Interesting!" He was really astounded by that tree.

"Why is that interesting?" Kate didn't see the importance.

"Chestnut trees were infected by a blight around 1890. They mostly died out around 1910. Even in our day they still existed but none of them could overcome the blight. So either we're in the 1800s or we're so far in the future that the blight's gone," Rick said.

Until Kate could find something to counter his claim she let him have it. "What's in the crates?" She saw a number of them spread out around them. None of them were very big. Mostly about the size of a pony keg save for a few.

Kate saw a few people begin to walk away. "Follow me." Kate headed for a crate that she could stand on and didn't miss hearing Rick tell her, "Anywhere."

The last thing she really remembered was that moment in the hotel and then Royce's letter to her. But she wasn't ready for that yet. Kate got up on the crate, put two fingers in her mouth, and let out the loudest whistle she could come up with. Then she did it again so she was sure she had everyone's attention.

"Listen up, my name is Kate Beckett and I'm a homicide detective in New York City, 12th precinct. This is my partner, Richard Castle. We can discuss this later but for now I'm going to say that I'm in charge.

"I'm not sure just what has happened, however, I'm going to work on the premise that what we were told is the truth until we work out otherwise.

"We need a number of things to start with first. ONE, no one and I mean _no one_ just wanders off and gets themselves lost. TWO, we are going to need food and water soon. THIRD, I want these crates opened so we can figure out what we have to work with.

"I need volunteers. I need teams of no less than three willing to look for fresh water. Another team to search for food sources. Plants, wildlife, anything that might be edible. Then I need people to help myself and Castle get these crates open. He and I will bury the body.

"Once we have that taken care of we can talk about who is capable of doing what. Farming, carpentry, doctors, nurses, EMTs, and everything else. Everything has a purpose so don't worry about what you can provide.

"Then we can try and figure out just where we are. Come see me so we can get started." Kate stayed on her crate for now as people headed in her direction.

From what she could see they were a real mishmash of people. She wasn't even sure if everyone spoke English.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Suddenly the power went out completely and it plunged everyone into darkness. Even the time machine abruptly just quit just as a person stepped through. It left the people that remained in the dark.

A few battery powered lights started coming on. "It's over." Coventry found that he couldn't be sadder if he tried. He, like everyone else, knew this meant their death. It was just that they were already dead.

"Is it enough?" someone close to him asked.

"We had so little that wasn't toxic to even touch. It was all we had," another added.

"It will be hard for them. We've done all we could. We were desperate to at least try and save the human race. I would say pray for them but none of our prayers saved us from what we did to ourselves." Coventry was glad that the project had at least done something.

"Send a team to the basement and activate the timer." He had no desire of dying a slow death. Being vaporized by the old school nuclear device in the basement would take care of that.

While Coventry might have said it, he couldn't resist.

"Please!" Just before the very last of the human race vanished in the blink of an eye. A flash of light and a mushroom cloud reaching for the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

**Your Future**

_Chapter 2_

Kate ended up with a mixed bag. She had groups heading out looking for fresh water even if they didn't have anything to put it in. She had other groups headed out looking for potential food sources.

Right now she had Castle helping her get these crates open so they could find out what they had. They both soon learned that getting crates that had been nailed shut open without a hammer, no matter how small or large they were, was a lot harder than it sounded.

"STOP! Stop, stop!" Kate saw a pair of kids using rocks to just pound away at a crate.

"We're trying to get it open, bitch, so what's your problem?" One of them tried to stare her down.

"First, I'm not your damn bitch. Second, what's in there might be breakable and if you break it while hammering away at it means we lose something. Something we don't have and can't get back. Or are you too dense to understand that?" Kate saw these two kids were going to be trouble.

"Whatever, bitch." He threw his rock at the crate and stormed off with his friend.

"Trouble?" Rick had caught up to her in case she needed help. Without weapons or maybe even with weapons, he was betting Kate could take those two idiots.

"Not yet, but those two have bad news written all over them," Kate commented. It was a pity she'd been flying a commercial plane without her police ID to get Royce's killer. It meant she wasn't traveling with her weapon.

"Weapon! What have you got in your pockets, Castle?" She had literally nothing on her. Everything she'd had was in her carry-on and she didn't see any of those.

Rick went through his pockets. He actually came up with a few things. His fob for his car, his wallet with everything that it had in it, a few coins, his cell phone that had a very dead battery, and that was about it.

"We were flying commercial and probably everyone else was as well. That means no knives of any kind. Maybe not even nail clippers. No weapons of any kind. Nothing even useful to get these crates open," Kate huffed in annoyance.

Much to her surprise Kate found a small group of about twenty-five people standing around her. "How can we help?"

"Start with this crate here. Ask the men to empty their pockets and put anything that isn't money or credit cards on it. Everything else goes on this crate. Coins, phones, everything. We only have what's in these crates and what we have on us. We're going to need a lot of things so let's see what we have to work with.

"And if somehow you manage to get this crate open before that, more power to you." The men immediately began searching their pockets as did the women.

Rick and Kate had managed to get their first crate open just as someone came up to them. "Where are they going?" She pointed at a group of black men and a couple of black women walking away.

Kate ran to get closer but didn't try to catch up to them. "Where do you think you're going?" Kate yelled at them only to see most of the men give her the bird. "We need to stick together. We don't even know where we are," Kate yelled again.

"We don't take orders from white bitches. Especially white pigs," one of them yelled back at her and they all kept walking.

As usual Kate found Rick standing right next to her. "Idiots." Kate couldn't believe them.

"If what we were told was the truth those people are as good as dead. No weapons, no clothes besides what they're wearing, no idea where they're going. One hungry cougar will rip them open with no trouble. Let alone a starving bear." Rick shook his head.

"If?" Kate grinned at him.

"Until we figure out where we are and what's in the area, Kate. For all I know what we went through was a Star Trek transporter and not a time machine. However…" Rick raised a finger to silence her. "Do you see any smoke?" That had Kate looking around. "How about contrails from high flying planes? Do you smell any trash? Any pollution of any kind?" he asked and watched as she looked and inhaled deeply.

"Nothing but clean nothingness. All of us were frozen and standing there looking and listening that guy talk to us. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't move a finger. Then we're walking through a tunnel surrounded by air that had more in common with the inside of a fireplace than clean air. And people were in there breathing that crap! Don't believe as usual, but don't discount it," Rick said to her.

"I'm not. Until I can prove otherwise it's all we've got. …Just say you're right. DON'T!" Kate held up a hand to stop him. "We're going to have more trouble than just food, water, and a place to sleep tonight. Unless those crates hold things like tampons it's going to get ugly around here soon." Kate knew when her period was going to be if what she knew as timing still held. But it was going to show up soon.

Rick looked around at all the women. He was guessing maybe a quarter had already reached menopause but that left all the others. "Baby food, diapers." He saw more than one baby being held now that they were short a few people since they were out looking around.

"How many planes do you think?" Rick questioned her.

Kate looked at everyone. "Four to six, maybe, depending on the size. Maybe one or more was a small commuter plane. I haven't heard much about planes crashing lately. Or what even happened to ours."

"Speaking of which, where are the pilots? If they took us why didn't they take the pilots?" Rick wondered.

"There, Castle." She saw some uniforms that looked like pilots and even flight attendants. "Let's see what they remember." Along the way she picked out a few volunteers to help open crates without breaking what was inside them.

**[)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(]**

Kate and Castle caught up to each of the planes' flight crews that were here.

One was a small commuter plane that held twelve people and two flight crew. They had no idea what had happened to their plane. It had suddenly just went out of control during an approach to a landing.

Two were also commuter planes, however they were jets. Each held twenty-four and twenty-six people respectively and had one crew member and two flight crews. One had a series of system errors while the other had an engine failure.

The final three were standard commercial flights. One had two hundred twenty-three people with six crew members. One had one hundred twenty-six people with four flight crew while their own plane had one hundred twenty-two people with four crew members. In each case they had two flight crew.

One plane had one of three flight computers fail that lead to two more system failures. One plane crashed into a sea wall just short of the runway. Their own plane had a bird strike that had one engine fail on them. However that failure caused wing damage and they plummeted to the ground uncontrolled.

It meant they had 561 people minus 14 black kids that didn't want to be led by a woman and even worse a woman that was a cop. That brought them down to 547 people.

"Thanks." Kate knew enough from them and walked back toward the majority of the crates that were all different sizes. "They were all crashing and yet here we all are."

"They got us all off crashing planes then put us all in a room," Rick commented.

"I could use a crazy theory about now, Castle." You couldn't just get people off of a plane while the plane was crashing.

"If they can send us forward in time because Earth was dead then maybe they have a way to get us off a plane. Suspend the crash and take us off the plane," Rick suggested.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "But I don't remember anything except being forced into my seat because we were crashing."

"If they can control time maybe they can freeze it as well. Step in, stun us so we're unconscious, and carry us out one at a time. Freezing time means they have all the time they need to move us and hold us," Rick proposed.

Kate was interrupted when a man ran up to them. "We think we've found something." Then he led them to one of the larger crates they had. "We found a stick that was thin enough on one end and a rock to hit the other. Took some time but…" He showed them the open crate.

Kate reached in to pull up a piece of cloth that was white and it was thick and heavy. "Castle?" Kate wasn't above asking his opinion for this.

He fingered the fabric. "I think it's a tent. It might be one of those big event tents. Hopefully there are poles."

"Event tent?" Kate wasn't following.

"I think he means one of those tents for special outdoor sales. Furniture stores and others," the man that had helped open the large crate said.

"If we're careful, these might be big enough for all of us or at least most of us," Rick commented.

"We're going to need a large flat space then. Preferably after we find out where the closest fresh water's located and before it decides to rain." Kate looked at the sky that looked clear at the moment. "Keep it in the crate for now. Easier to move it."

"We need to get the rest of them open," Rick mentioned. He began to pick up what they had used to open this one to use it again.

"Leave it, I have another job for you." Kate pulled him away but didn't go far.

"If we're all the humans there are and yet this place looks nice that means there should be wildlife," Kate said. Rick was following easily enough but wasn't sure what she wanted.

"Unless there are weapons in any of these crates that means we're all unarmed. How are you at making weapons? To defend with and go hunting with. Five hundred forty-seven people are going to need a lot of food. The more weapons we have the more hunting groups we can have." Kate paused and waited for his reply.

"You came to the right guy then. I'll be in those trees looking for what I want. Don't disappear on me," Rick told her.

"I don't think that will be a problem," Kate muttered and watched Rick walk away. She knew she'd asked him for something, however watching him leave left her feeling naked; it wasn't a feeling she liked. She'd done just fine alone before he had shown up in her life and now she wasn't sure what her life would be like without him.

The only thing she still had on her was Royce's letter that she felt for and pulled out and looked at. She already knew what he had written by heart. Royce was right, she was fighting it. She sighed and put it back. She became the kickass detective and walked around to see how they were all coming with the crates.

**[)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(]**

Rick was just walking up to her when she stood up on an open crate and tried to balance herself. Putting two fingers in her mouth she let out two loud whistles to get everyone's attention.

"Two teams have found what might be the same stream so there's fresh water that way," Kate pointed. "Food is still a problem that needs to be solved. We've got all of the crates open and we have a variety of things. All of which are useful but we're going to have to figure out just how useful.

"Right now we have two big tents and a few small ones of different sizes so we at least have cover. Right now I need people to pick up the crates and take them all closer to the stream. Then we need to find the largest flat spot we can find to put up the biggest tent. Based on how big this tent might be we're going to need a lot of people to set it up." Kate saw a hand go up.

"Yes?" Kate had only made herself the leader for now since she was betting she was the best person for it.

"Cell phones maybe? Ours are all dead." She even held up her dead iPhone to prove it.

"No, nothing electrical was found in any of the crates. My cell phone is just as dead as yours. Keep in mind if what we were told was the truth we're very far into the future. I don't know about any of you but I haven't seen anything that says anyone lives here," Kate said.

"We did." A man held up a piece of plastic. Kate got off her crate, hurried over to him, and took it from him. "Definitely plastic of some kind." She looked it over. "I don't see any words."

"There was more," he said.

"Show me. Castle?" She saw him standing next to her with a big stick in his hand.

"Right behind you." Rick followed the group that had found the piece of plastic.

It was a little ways away but they reached it without trouble. "Looks like an illegal dumpsite to me. It's been here a really long time from the look of it," Rick observed.

"Yeah," Kate agreed and waded out into the mess. Then she stopped when she saw something. "I think it's a tire." She found a stick to help her uncover it a little more. "Michelin."

"Plastics and various rubbers will be around for hundreds of years. The Pyramids in Egypt are in a dry area where it doesn't rain much. They should still exist. Any radioactive items will also still be here and still very dangerous," Rick said then looked at Kate. "I don't suppose you still have your radiation detector on you?"

Kate shook her head. She didn't have any of her equipment. Not even her cuffs or even her badge.

"There may be trash here but I'm not sure what we can use it for. But never say never," Rick advised.

Kate had seen enough. "We need to get back and get that tent set up before it gets dark."

"We need to start fires soon also," Rick reminded her.

"I hope someone in this group smokes or starting that fire is gong to be a challenge." Kate had no real clue how to start a fire without matches. It might be done in the movies, but that was movies.

**[)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(]**

Kate was back on her crate and blew her whistle again twice. "Where did you learn to do that?" Rick was impressed.

"Just another layer to my onion, Castle." Kate smiled at him.

"This is a good spot for those big tents. Take them out and let's figure out how to set it up. I also need teams to collect dead wood so we can start a fire. To start that fire, please tell me someone here smokes and has matches or a lighter," Kate yelled.

She saw a few hands go up after they checked to make sure they still had lighters on them.

"Great, don't get lost we're going to need you later. Once we get a few fires going we're going to need to keep them going, and yes, I know it causes pollution. Right now it's a small amount and we don't even know where we are yet." Finished talking, Kate got down off her crate.

**[)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(]**

The tent they soon found out was 10' x 30' and was complete with steel poles, guylines to support the poles, and eighteen inch steel stakes to secure the walls to the ground and they didn't have just one but two of them.

They tried to put them up as close to end to end as they could in the flattest spot they could find.

"I know we have two little hand shovels in crates somewhere. We need teams to start digging a small trench all the way around the high side. When it starts raining we want the water to go around the tent, not in under the walls. That will keep the ground under the tent from getting wet unless everyone likes sleeping in mud," Kate called out.

"What's with the big stick, Castle?" He'd been walking around with it ever since he had come back with it.

"It's a nice straight piece of oak with no knots, no twists, and no limbs. It's dead but not too dead. I don't suppose you found knives in any of those crates." He was going to need two different ones for what he had in mind.

"Several actually. This way." Kate showed him and let him have fun.

Kate watched two men trying to dig a trench around the tent with each going opposite directions.

Next she found volunteers to go looking for firewood. Then she overheard a wife asking her husband where she was supposed to poop. That gave Kate a new problem and it was a big one. If they didn't handle this properly diseases could make them all sick and maybe kill a few.

She saw a man dressed in all camo. "Military, I'm guessing?" Kate asked him.

"Yes, ma'am, Private Malcolm Prudhomme, 326th Maintenance Battalion based out of Owings Mills, Maryland at your service."

"We're going to need a place or two for us all to use the bathroom or we're all going to end up sick," Kate said.

"Yes, ma'am. Cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A just to name a few." He was very familiar with needing proper sanitary conditions.

"Great, I need a volunteer to spot where to dig then find the men to do the digging just as soon as they are done digging a trench around the tents. What I don't know is what we're going to use in place of toilet paper that we don't have." Kate was a little in over her head for this one.

"I know what to do, ma'am. Just keep in mind none of us are going to have any privacy for this," Malcolm warned her.

"I don't care. We don't have any penicillin or any other antibiotics for any diseases. If that means we do it in public, so be it. As for what to use in place of toilet paper I'll leave it to your imagination," Kate told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He wasn't interested in getting sick, either, so two big slip trenches with a downed tree to sit on over said hole, it was. He just had to find a place to put them that was away from the water and away from the tents but not too far that they couldn't find it in the dark.

**[)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(] ****o**** [)(]**

"Ladies?" She had four of them coming up to her.

"Clothes, tampons, hopefully," one of them asked.

"Don't I wish. Mine, if I'm still on schedule, is in a couple of weeks. I feel for you and I have no idea what I'm going to do about it." Kate wasn't looking forward to not having anything to use. And with all these women around it was only going to get worse. "I'm open to ideas so ask around. Maybe someone knows something we don't."

"You really think we're far in the future on Earth?" one of them asked her.

Kate turned to look at Rick who was busy using something on his big stick. She wasn't really sure just what he was doing.

"Until we find out differently I'm going to assume the answer is yes. If someone flies over us in a helicopter I'll be the first to dance for joy. For now we live like it's the truth," Kate told them.

"Water, food?" someone else asked.

"Water's at the stream that I haven't even seen yet. As for food," Kate turned to look at Rick again, "we're working on it. As soon as we have something to kill wild game with we'll send out hunting parties. Which reminds me, I need one of the fire pits ready to roast anything we kill.

"Ask around, that's the best I can tell you. Just don't expect someone to offer up her lone tampon or pad. I sure as hell wouldn't." Kate left them to go see about those fire pits.


	3. Chapter 3

**Your Future**

**_If you want canon Castle, go watch the reruns!_**

_Chapter 3_

What Kate needed was a drink. A good stiff drink but they didn't have any alcohol so she had to settle for water. And to do that meant walking down to the stream where she found people doing what she was doing, scooping water up in her hands to drink.

Kate, however, didn't escape them. "Food?" She knew food was going to be a problem.

"Nothing was in the crates, not that I was expecting them to be full of food. I've got a plan in place but probably not until sometime tomorrow. We actually have a lot of issues to solve and food is just one of them. Just try to ignore that rumble your stomach's making. It's what I'm doing." Kate left them and headed back to the others.

Amazingly she found almost everyone under the tents that were up and the trench was almost complete. She also saw her lone military guy with a few men waiting for them to finish. She was really thankful for the help.

She needed everyone's attention again so she found a crate, stood on it, and blew her whistle twice to get their attention. "I have a few things. One, the tents are up and this is where everyone will be sleeping and no, there are no sleeping bags so we'll all be sleeping on the ground. That's the reason for the rain trench around us.

"Two locations for everyone to use the bathroom are presently being dug. I need everyone to start using them. If you don't you'll end up with cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, or hepatitis A, just to name a few. Since we don't have any antibiotics like penicillin you just might end up killing yourself if you don't. So use them." Kate paused. "And no, there is no toilet paper." Kate heard a lot of groaning after that part.

"I hate camping," a woman called out. Kate ignored her and moved on.

"We have four small dome tents that I'm going to have set up on the fringe of this area. No, no one will be sleeping in them on a regular basis. In case you haven't noticed this tent provides no one with privacy. Sooo, we're going to rotate who gets to use these little tents so that you can have some privacy for more…personal activities. And for those of you that didn't get that, I'm talking about sex.

"Just keep in mind that I'm betting most of us don't have access to our birth control pills and unless there's a guy who has one lone condom in his wallet, that's going to be it for that.

"Which reminds me do we have a medical doctor or a nurse or EMT or even a medical student in the group?" Kate began praying and saw three hands raise.

"Great! You just became our entire medical group. Come see me." Kate paused and thought about what was next.

"I've already been asked about food. Unfortunately none of the crates had food. I've already got someone making a weapon but we could use more. So if you have skills at making simple weapons come see me. We'll send out hunting parties tomorrow.

"As for clothes and shoes, what we're wearing is it. So try and be careful and keep what you are wearing clean. Remember, no soap and no electricity. If any of you ever wondered how your great, or maybe great, great grandparents managed, well you're about to find out.

"Do I know for a fact that it's just us here? No, I don't. But I haven't seen any helicopters, smoke, or even contrails from high flying jets so I'm going by what we were told as the truth until we find out otherwise.

"Now tomorrow I'm going to start asking what skills each and every one of you have. Everything is important. EVERYTHING! There are only 547 of us so everyone has a skill no matter what it is and we're going to need whatever that skill is.

"If anyone has suggestions come see me and we'll see what we can do based on what we have to work with. For now just try and get some rest and help where you can. Thank you." Kate got down off her crate, stood there, and waited.

She found out she had one emergency room nurse, one EMT who was on vacation, and one medical student. "There wasn't much in the crates for you to use. Stick close for now and I'll show you."

Kate saw three men and three women headed for her. She soon learned that one of the men knew how to use a forge if they had one and could make swords and other things. If they had one and had the ore.

Two of the women were avid hunters thanks to their fathers and knew how to hunt, even if it was with rifles. The other woman knew how to make handmade bows which had Kate smiling.

The other two men were also hunters and one knew how to use a bow and could make arrows if he had to.

"Marvelous! You two are with me and you three, let's go." Kate walked toward the crates.

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"Here's your crate. What's in it might be helpful to you. Then there's this crate that looks like a mini chemistry set. So look them over then start asking around. Maybe someone here is a physics teacher or science teacher. Even if they were a temp." Kate left her three medical crew behind and looked around for Castle. She saw him sitting on a crate working on his stick.

"Castle, I've got two volunteers for you. These two say they know how to make simple weapons so they're here to help." Kate left those two with Castle and went off to look elsewhere. There always seemed to be something that needed to be done.

However, when she reached one of the fire pits she saw three people carrying loads of dead wood to add to what looked like a good pile and they even had a fire going already.

"Nice work, guys." This was one fire pit down. "We're going to need a lot more wood so keep at it and while you're out there see if you can think of a way to roast something over an open fire while turning it." Kate demonstrated using her hand to turn a handle to make it spin. "Plus a nice long pole to attache whatever it is to."

"Not a problem," one of the men said and they left to go get more wood and look for what they needed to do just that.

"How are the other two fire pits coming?" Kate inquired since they might know. Kate watched one of them point so she turned to look and saw two columns of smoke rising up. Satisfied they were making progress she went back to her medical team.

"This crate's all medical and just what we need. But what we didn't find was a way to make them sterile to prevent infection," her emergency nurse James told her. Not what she needed to hear. "What about the other crate?" Kate asked them.

Mike, who was the EMT, explained the problem. "It's basically a small chemistry set. The only thing missing is the propane for the burner and chemicals to mix. We get those and we can use it."

"Well don't lose it and don't break it. Maybe we can fix that problem. Try and think of ways to sterilize those tools and let me know." Kate walked away and scrubbed her face with her hands. What she was at the moment was tired. Being in command and trying to manage everything was exhausting.

"Where's Captain Montgomery when I need him." Kate sat down on a crate and closed her eyes.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate almost jumped out of her skin when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders. She quickly turned to look at who it was only to see Castle smiling down at her. He put his hands back on her shoulders and began massaging them.

"You look beat," Rick murmured.

"Thanks, Castle." Just what she needed, to be told she looked like shit.

"I said you look tired, not ugly. You couldn't look ugly even if you tried. You could make a potato sack look like a dress from Paris and be the envy of every woman here."

"Thanks." Kate let him work on her shoulders and wondered what else his hands were good for.

"Those two are off looking for string to use for a bow and bird feathers to fletch arrows with. We might have three bows sometime tomorrow. They told me there are real hunters in our little group," Rick said. "Just not sure how many arrows. Maybe some sharpened poles to go with them."

"Good." God but she loved his hands.

"Well I have good news and bad news," he said.

"I'll take the good news first." Kate could use some really good news like Castle had seen contrails from a jet.

"I know how to make homemade penicillin."

That couldn't have surprised her more than if he'd stood on his head and whistled "The Star Spangled Banner." Kate turned to look at him which stopped him from massaging her shoulders.

"So what's the bad news?" Kate could imagine this was going to be really bad since the good news was actually pretty good.

"We need a number of things first. First we need moldy bread which means we need to figure out how to make bread first. That or we need the peel from citrus fruits, cantaloupe, or salami. Then we need lactose monohydrate, cornstarch, sodium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, potassium phosphate mono, glucose monohydrate, zinc sulfate, and manganese sulfate." Rick rocked back on his heels and waited.

"Oh, is that all." Kate turned back around and let Castle to go back to massaging her shoulders. "I'll just take the first taxi I can find and go get that stuff." Leave it to Castle to get her hopes up then crush them.

Rick rubbed her shoulders and said, "You didn't let me finish. I know exactly where to get all those things. Just not where around here to find them, granted, but I know where."

That had Kate turning to look at him again. "Do I want to know how you know all this?"

"Research. Derek Storm needed penicillin but he didn't have any but he knew how to make it. When are you going to learn I know a lot of things?" Rick asked her.

Kate turned back around and let him continue massaging her shoulders. "You keep this up and maybe I'll start to listen," Kate said and moaned. She was teasing him. They were really good at it.

"Kate Beckett, still the tease," Rick commented but kept massaging her shoulders.

"You thinking we're it for the human race yet?" Rick queried knowing she wouldn't believe it until it hit her in the face.

"Five hundred forty-seven people? Better not be. Have you seen the people we have? Men still outnumber the women and some of the women are past having children. And if you suggest that I have children with multiple men I really will shoot you," Kate warned him.

"I would never suggest that you turn yourself into a baby making machine. Only if we're going to survive as a race the women are going to have to have more than one baby," Rick pointed out.

Kate wasn't sure she was ready for even one baby let alone more than one.

"We already have babies in this group. We have nothing for babies. What happens when they get infections? Are they breastfeeding? We don't have formula let alone bottles, diapers, or anything else.

"If you are right, Castle, we are so screwed." Kate hated thinking about being defeated. It was just that she was a homicide detective. She wasn't the leader of the entire human race. She was in way over her head.

Suddenly she felt herself being pulled up by Castle and then turned around to face him. Then she watched as his face got closer and closer until he was kissing her. She hadn't even tried to stop him. Worse, she found her arms going up to slip around his neck and was kissing him back.

When he finally broke from the kiss she was speechless for a moment. Damn but he was a good kisser. "What was that for?" She was even ready for another kiss.

"You sounded defeated. One of the things I like most about you is that you never give up. I've told you before that you're extraordinary. I still believe that and always will.

"We may be all that's left of the human race. But if there's anyone that's going to save us that person is you." Rick had complete faith in her.

Kate opened her mouth since she couldn't believe him but closed it.

"Now do you need another kiss or are you good? Or should we try out one of those little tents tonight?" Rick arched his eyebrows a couple of times and smiled at her.

Kate smiled at him. Leave it to Castle to go from being all grown up and knowing just what to say to lift her spirits only to turn himself into a jackass the next.

Suddenly her filter was gone and she didn't know where it went. "Maybe just one more." Kate pulled his head down to her, kissed him savagely and searched his mouth. If the previous kiss was amazing, maybe this one would be even better.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate was really tired and yet she had made sure that each fire pit had people manning it with orders to wake her if some animal that scared them came toward them, or even worse, into the camp.

She and even Rick had no idea just what wildlife was on Earth now. If Kate was right maybe a bear or a mountain lion or maybe at best a tiger of some type. Rick, though, was talking about dinosaurs.

"They went extinct because of an asteroid, not because nature said their time was over. Or maybe something bigger and badder is now top dog. Man's been gone a long time, so what took our place while we were gone?" Rick wondered.

Kate wasn't sure what to believe. All she knew was what she had now. Until it could be proved one way or the other she was forced to listen to Castle's idea and what they'd been told before getting here.

But just how did you recover when you had almost nothing?

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate was lying on her back near one of the two entrances on nice soft grass and very hard ground with Castle next to her.

"You keep thinking and you'll never get to sleep," Kate heard Rick say to her.

"I'm a homicide detective, Castle." Kate was still hung up on why did it have to be her? Even if she had effectively volunteered herself.

"And you're perfect for the job. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day." Rick reached out and took one of her hands in his. Kate let him and actually closed her hand around his.

There was basically one big open aisle down the middle with people lying on the ground stacked up side by side from one end to the other. Even then it wasn't enough so there were people lying down in the very middle closing it off.

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Kate blinked her eyes open and realized it was still dark out. A quick look at her watch told her what she expected; it was the normal time for her to get up.

Then she noticed that she was almost on top of Castle as he continued to sleep. Even their legs were intertwined. It gave her a chance to watch him like she'd watched him while he slept after she'd read Royce's letter on the plane. Before they had ended up here. Wherever here was.

She knew she was still fighting it. However, if Rick was right there was nothing back home for her. No home, no friends, no Dad, no job, no nothing.

What she needed was time to think. She started to get up only to find that she was trapped. "Nooo…, stay." His voice sounded sleepy like he didn't even really know it was her. Or maybe he did.

Kate knew he wasn't dating anyone unlike what she'd done to him.

"Castle." He needed to let go of her so she could start her day. There was a lot that had to get done today.

"Sleep," was all she got back from a very masculine, very sleepy voice.

It really was tempting, but she needed to think. Her heart didn't do her talking for her. Her head did and right now it wanted out of his arms so she could think.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate had stopped at each fire pit to check on how things had gone last night. In one case they'd had what they thought was a visitor but whatever it was hadn't gotten close.

Kate was betting it was the fire. "Let the fire burn down a lot once the sun is fully up but don't let it burn out. We'll start collecting more firewood once everyone's up. Nice work." She was pleased with each group.

She also realized she needed to pee so she went off to where her pit and tree trunk was waiting for her. She was willing to admit that dropping her pants and panties so she could sit on her tree just enough so that the pee went into the pit wasn't ideal but it was better than the alternative. Kate got it over with quickly and headed back to the camp.

It wasn't until the sun had been up for a while that everyone was up. The new toilet was very popular if not exactly loved as was the stream to get fresh water to drink.

Kate was up on a crate yet again and whistled twice to get everyone's attention. "First up, how are the weapons coming?" They needed teams to go hunting and find something to eat. Castle raised his bow that came with a few arrows but not many. She saw one more bow with a few arrows. The rest were branches that had been sharpened on one end using a rock.

"Good! Split up and go hunting. Bring back anything and everything. You're the pros that I have so go where you want. We'll all be here waiting for you since I for one, am starving." Kate knelt down low while still on her feet.

"Please stay safe, Castle." He was all she had left. She didn't really know any of these people. "And keep an eye out for those stupid kids." She didn't trust them.

"I'll be back, Kate." What he wanted to do was kiss her but he didn't. Instead he gathered those going with him and headed out.

Kate stood back up. "Fire pits ready for when they get back?" Kate questioned and saw three thumbs up. "We're going to need a lot more fire wood so I need three teams for that. The people that stayed up last night need to get some sleep.

"We've got a medical team with little to work with but if something happens go see them. As for those with babies…I really wish I knew what to tell you. The only clothes we have are what we're wearing so I guess they'll just have to go naked. I really am sorry and if I hear any complaints about seeing someone breastfeeding you won't get any sympathy from me. If we are indeed all that's left of the human race, babies are something we're going to need a lot of in the future so get used to it since we don't have any formula or bottles.

"Next I need everyone, and I mean everyone, to come see me today. I need to understand what each and everyone of you is capable of doing. I don't just mean what your job was if you had one. I mean what you know. Even housewives have skills and we're going to need all of them.

"No schools means home schooling so I need to know about that. Who knows how to skin what they bring back and what we can turn that into. If the Native Americans can survive out here with almost nothing, then so can we.

"So tell me what you've read. What did you learn to do from what you've read. We have a lot to do today so let's get started." Kate got down off of her crate and started with the person that was closest to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Your Future**

_Chapter 4_

Kate was busy learning a lot and it was sounding like they had a lot of people that were capable of many things. She just wasn't sure how they were going to put all of it to use when they didn't have things that they needed to put some of it to use.

She was on her next person when there was some excitement somewhere so she broke off that interview to find out what it was.

There were three of them and one of them was Castle. However what had her attention was what two of them had on a pole that was on their shoulders. One in front and one in back.

Kate ran down and ran into Castle so she could hug him for this. "What is it?" It was certainly big and looked heavy.

"It's a pig, we think. We found an entire colony of them. Jake, there, has an idea we might want to look into next time. He wants to dig a pit, cover it with dead leaves, and let them fall in. Then we can kill it at our leisure," Rick said.

"We can talk about it after we cook it. I'm starving," Kate informed him, her mouth already watering.

"Well you're going to cook it without us. We're going back for another one before they decide to move on to somewhere else," Rick told her, his eyes blazing with excitement.

The entire camp was now watching them mount it to a better pole and try and get it over the fire pit before they built up the fire to cook it.

"So how did you do it?" Kate was curious.

"We went with Castle's plan, actually," Jake revealed. "He shot it with his arrow, had it squealing right for us to get away from him and straight into our sticks. It worked perfectly. We plan on doing it again. Maybe get all three fire pits cooking something if at least one of the other teams come back with something.

"We found a pole and wrapped it up on the pole and carried it home," Jake grinned proudly.

Kate was happy and smiling at Castle. He usually had two left feet at some things and wasn't sure she wanted him going on a hunting party but it was looking like it worked out.

"Ready, Castle?" Jake was ready to go back and kill another one.

"Give me a minute," Rick answered and turned his attention to Kate. "Take notes. Hang it if you can then cut its throat and see if you can find something for all the blood to drain into. We can use the blood later. Then skin it by laying it between two poles. We can use the skin later. If it's possible cut it in half down the back and mount it to a pole to cook each half. Take out all the innards and store them in something. We might be able to use that as well. And it's going to take several hours to cook it fully. Got it? Gotta go." Then Kate was a little shocked when he quickly kissed her and ran off.

She stood there and slowly touched her lips. He had kissed her like it was the most natural thing to do and had done it countless times before.

"Where are the knives?" Several of them were ready to start cutting, skinning, and cooking. They were starving, too. All Kate could do was point.

Someone had run to get plastic from the dump site, lined the smallest crate they had, and slit its throat while it was tied to three poles that people were holding. Once it was done bleeding they removed the crate, began cutting, and put the guts in another crate lined by old dirty plastic.

Eventually they had two halves of a pig which were now rotating slowly, turned by someone over a slow fire so they didn't burn it.

Then in came another hunting team carrying something that looked like a small bear or at least close to it.

"What's cooking?" one of them asked.

"Wild pig, they went back for another one," Kate told them. "You know what to do with this?" She had no idea.

"We can handle it," another of them assured Kate.

"Save the skin if you can. We need to put to use everything we can. We might be wearing skins one of these days if we have to." Kate watched them get to work.

"Four pigs and one whatever it is. …We need two more fire pits. Find some volunteers that want to eat and let's find sites for them," Kate observed as two groups worked at creating two more fire pits to cook over. Each was close to one of the others so it was simple.

Kate heard a number of people who were just as hungry as she was ask how long this was going to take. She didn't even have to answer any of them. Word got around fast.

She was back to listening to what people did for a living. What they did at home that might be useful and what they had even read but hadn't yet tried that might be useful.

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Kate was still at it when she heard someone yell, "They're back and they have another one!" That had Kate running to find Castle and his group coming back with yet another pig on their shoulders.

This time Kate didn't wait and kissed him soundly for two pigs. It meant so very much to this group to have this much to eat.

"Two. You're trying to make me fat aren't you?" Kate teased him.

"I'll go back and get another if it means you'll kiss me again." Rick smiled at her.

Kate smiled back at him. "Maybe next time. One of the teams came back with what looks like a small bear as best we can tell. Your first one is cut in half and already over the fire being turned slowly. We're still working on how to get this one over the fire but someone's working on it." Then she walked with him back into their camp.

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The third hunting team came back empty. They'd seen small animals but just couldn't get them. They moved too fast only to find out it didn't matter, they had more than enough and just needed to wait for it to cook.

Thanks to five sites that had meat it didn't take long for everyone to have a piece. The trick had been what to put hot meat onto so they didn't burn their hands. The girls that went hunting had an answer for that.

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Kate was sitting on the ground next to Rick and had already finished her second slice of pig and was presently chewing a slice of bear or at least that was what they were calling it. She had quickly decided that she preferred pig to this fella.

Rick bumped her with his shoulder and smiled at her. Kate smiling and bumped him back.

For once the entire camp was quiet as everyone sat where they wanted and ate mostly pig since that was they had the most of.

The fires were very low, almost embers; the pig and the bear were still on the spits but not being turned. A quick look told Kate that they still had leftovers. Everyone was getting slices since they didn't know how much they had to handle 547 people but there was still enough so Kate was up for round four and found Castle right behind her. She even let him slice off a piece of pig for her then got his own.

"That statement that you are what you eat better not be right," Rick grinned and Kate chortled. Even out here, wherever they were, he could make her laugh.

Now that she was full of pig she was leaning up against him and was finally a little happy after getting here.

"You're going to have to do that again tomorrow, you know. We have 547 people to feed. And we're going to need something besides meat eventually," Kate said, pleasantly full and just a little lethargic.

"Shouldn't be a problem for now. At least until we need to go farther out to hunt for game. As for something besides meat, that might be more of a challenge. There might be some nut trees around here somewhere," Rick said. He hoped there was someone in the group who might know what was safe to eat in the woods.

Kate was still leaning up against him and liked where she was. "What does it take to start farming, I wonder." Another thing she knew nothing about.

"A horse and a plow and some seed," Rick replied, knowing full well that they didn't have any of those at the moment.

"What time of year do you think it is?" Kate asked. She was thinking about what they were going to do months from now.

Rick glanced at the trees. "Early summer, I'm thinking. If I'm right, based on types of trees that were in Virginia, West Virginia or Kentucky area it's going to get really cold here come winter."

Kate looked around and didn't see one single coat in sight. They had a real mix, however everyone knew enough English to at least get by or get help from someone that knew English better, she had learned while learning about people.

"Snow and ice, we'll lose a lot of people in our first winter." Kate took hold of Castle's arm. She was responsible for them. She had put herself in charge of 547 people and needed to keep them all alive.

"We need to move." Rick knew they had no other choice. Not and keep the majority alive.

"What!?" Kate sat up and let go of his arm.

"You said it yourself. If we're where I think we are it's going to get cold and I even see shorts." Rick gestured toward one of the fire pits and Kate looked. Sure enough a young woman was wearing shorts. Kate also saw a fair number wearing leggings. She herself was wearing blue jeans, and a soft top, perfect for hot California which was where she had been. At least she was wearing boots.

"We're going to freeze. I'm going to freeze." Kate kept looking around. "So where do we go? California, if there is a California, is on the other side of two mountain ranges. Without even horses it'll take us a year or more to get there. And we'll lose people along the way. We have the Mississippi River to cross let alone others." If this was very far in the future she was betting the San Andreas Fault had already cut California in half.

"Florida. If we can make it to Orlando we'll have all the citrus we can eat. We can figure out a way to go fishing. It'll get cool but we won't freeze to death," Rick suggested. "And even Florida has wildlife. Gators maybe." It was the best he could think of.

"How long do you think it'll take us?" Kate queried.

He tried to do the math in his head. "If we average say twenty miles a day. Have to stop to go hunting then cook what we find. Get delayed by any river crossings. Seven hundred seventy miles divided by twenty means a month and a half minimum. So, two months. We should reach it by summer. Long enough to look around and get settled again. If, and this might be a big if, but if climate change melted all of the glaciers most of Florida would have been swamped.

"It depends on just what happened. Say it was all pollution; so did it freeze again or just get dirty? Orlando might have an ocean on each side. Atlantic and one side and the Gulf on the other.

"Going any farther south is out. Hurricanes would easily wipe us out. Even if we had a boat big enough living on an island when it's just us is out." Rick shook his head.

"Two months to Florida. Any big rivers between here and there?" Kate had hardly ever left New York City. Castle was the one that went places.

Rick nodded. "Tennessee's full of them. After that not so much. At least not until Florida when it will be a whole lot of small lakes for us to go around, I think. We're pretty much dealing with the unknown."

"Everyone's happy at the moment so I'll break it to them in the morning. They're not all going to want to go." That was Kate's big fear now. It could split the group.

"Maybe there are enough people that know what winters are like in Kentucky who can help. They stay here and they freeze to death. Besides say I'm wrong about being very far in the future and we have cities or at least small towns around here somewhere. We'll certainly run across at least one along the way then our plans change. But if I'm right, we stay here and we die." Rick's face had urgency written all over it.

"I'll break it to them in the morning." Kate leaned back against Rick again even though she should get up and check on everyone. That could wait.

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Kate woke up and found herself on Rick this time. Her head was tucked nicely on his shoulder and all of her breathing was to and from his neck. In addition she had a hand on his chest as he was lying on his back. Even given that none of them had likely had a shower in the last few days she could smell him and she liked it a lot.

She stayed just where she was so she could keep smelling him. It was causing her blood to go south and that wasn't acceptable. She sighed and began detaching herself from him. She got up, went outside over to the slip trench, and dropped her pants. This time instead of just peeing she needed to poop as well. To clean up she found a huge pile of leaves to use. They mostly worked but they also hurt a little. Next she found the pigs right where they had been left so she sliced off a piece and ate it for breakfast. Today was going to be a rough day, she just knew it.

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Kate thought she had everyone out of the tent so she found a crate and stood on it. Castle stood next to her giving her his support. A couple of whistles later and it looked like she had everyone's attention.

"I have something we need to discuss. I need everyone to look around and think about what you see. Lots of grass, low rolling hills mostly, and trees that only grow in the northern part of the United States. It's summer, so it's nice and warm now, even at night it's not so bad.

"But that will start to change when fall then winter rolls around. Now take a look around at what everyone is wearing. Look at what I'm wearing. I was on vacation in California at the time so I dressed for it.

"Where are my hunters?" Kate called out and saw hands go up. "Ask them how cold is it going to get here if we stay here?" Kate said. No one needed to ask them as two of them spoke up.

"Very! I'm betting several feet of snow," Demelsa Weaver responded.

"We can't make clothes. Hell, we can't even make diapers. Burning fires is only going to help just so much. None of these tents is meant for cold weather. Even if they were we don't have any sleeping bags let alone ones meant for cold weather," Wade Eddy said. He was ready to follow Kate south right now.

"If we're right we're presently in Kentucky or maybe northern Tennessee. Anyone know anything about this area? How cold is it going to get? How much snow are we going to get this winter?" Kate asked the group.

Kate saw a hand. "Highs in the low 40's, lows in the low 20's on average. More wind in winter and it will rain during December. About an inch or two of snow in December but mostly in January. With the wind it will feel even colder. Ponds will freeze enough you can skate on them."

"He means it will be cold and we're going to freeze. No winter clothing and no housing to keep us warm. No electricity, no natural gas, no home heating oil." Kate looked around.

"Why are we listening to you?" someone yelled.

"That's a good question. I'm a homicide detective from New York City. I was on vacation in California and since I was out of my jurisdiction I didn't think I would need my ID. I'm no survivalist. I'm simply doing what I think is right. I'm used to issuing orders so I took on the task.

Kate's chin went up. "You've got someone who you think is more qualified than me then I'm all ears. I'm trying to do what is best for 547 people."

"So what are you suggesting exactly?" a man called out.

"We need to move while we still can and do it easily given what we are wearing. I'm suggesting Florida." Kate heard a lot of moaning and groaning.

"I know it's far. About 770 miles kind of far. If we can average 20 miles a day and account for river crossings, trying to make sure we don't get lost, it should take us about 2 months or so. Besides being a lot warmer during winter, there will be lots of citrus trees for us to eat from. Still wildlife for us to hunt and wood to burn for fires. Depending on just where we stop we might even be able to do some fishing. It's not the promised land but I truly believe it's our best option." Kate stood there, waiting.

"And hurricanes," a woman's voice rang out.

"Granted. The Midwest will still be really cold and have tornadoes. California is even farther away and while it might be just as warm, it has earthquakes. And there are two very tall and large mountain ranges between here and there. We would never survive the trip. Florida is at least doable. Going north means even colder weather. Going even farther south might mean ending up on an island if we had boats. An even worse idea." Kate stopped and looked around. She could hear people whispering.

"I'm not ordering anyone to go with us. Stay if you want. Go somewhere else if you want. Those kids did. Don't trust me? That's fine with me. Don't. Have a better plan, I'm all ears. But we're leaving starting tomorrow morning. I prefer not to freeze to death and I'm not interested in trudging through snow, rain, and cold weather to leave here to find somewhere warmer.

"Where are my hunters again." Kate waited for hands. "Ask them where all the animals we are hunting now will go? How many bushes with berries we're going to find? How many nut trees are going to have nuts on them? How do we feed 547 people?" Kate stopped and looked around.

Once again she heard a lot of whispering.

"We need to take down the tents first thing in the morning and pack them up. We take everything with us. We go hunting again today and cook it. Fill your pockets with what we don't eat. Just don't eat too much. You'll end up puking as you walk.

"We stop to hunt and find fresh water. Yes, it will rain on us and we'll be without shelter most likely unless we can see it coming and get the tents up in time. Figure out how to cross rivers without losing anyone. Try to get there without breaking something along the way. But it'll be warm and it'll stay that way.

"Think it over and talk, but we're leaving in the morning." Kate got off her crate and stood next to Castle.

She looked at him, a little anxious. "What do you think?".

Rick smiled at her. "I think you might have missed your calling. You're the very best homicide detective I know but maybe you should try politics next time."

"No thanks." Kate had no interest in politics at all. "I can't help but wonder what happened to my dad. Lanie, Kevin, and Javi. Even Roy." She was really starting to miss them.

"Long since dead." He had a catch in his voice. "Just like Alexis and my mother and everyone else I knew." He'd been trying to avoid thinking about what happened to Alexis. He knew he had left enough money behind so she would be comfortable, but just what had she done?

"I'm sorry, Castle. I know what Alexis meant to you." Kate put an arm around him and tried to give him some comfort.

"She did great. I know it. I just wish I had been there." Rick felt his tears flood his eyes. His little girl was dead and had been for a very long time.

"Maybe we're not way in the future. There might be a town or farm just the other side of this hill," Kate suggested but it didn't help. "Yeah." She was truly afraid that he was right. It was just them and that was all there was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Your Future**

_Chapter 5_

The day had gone much like the last one save that Kate could tell people were talking and had broken into various groups. Part of what worried her about that was that it was looking like. White, the largest group, was there in the middle, Asian over there, black here, Hispanic on the other side, then subdivided into those that didn't speak a lot of English.

It was looking like old habits died hard. "Castle?" She wasn't even surprised that he was already standing right next to her. All that time without a partner in her work and now she didn't want to go back to being all alone.

"How do we solve this? Look around, what do you see?" Kate waved her hand at the entire area that was filled with people but those same people looked a lot like little pods spread out all over.

At first Rick didn't get it. People were separated into little groups which was normal. People decided who they liked and who they either didn't like or liked less so they stuck together. Then he heard it, even if everyone was talking softly. Not everyone was speaking English and that got him looking at each little group differently.

"You're in charge. Delegate people from different groups to solve some problem. Instead of asking for volunteers assign people to the task. Mix them up. Show everyone that everyone else really is nice. No one wants to be totally alone and feel like they're being singled out and hated," Rick suggested.

"In other words become a dictator." Kate hated the sound of it already. Surely Castle could come up with something better.

"For now, yes. Then go back to asking for volunteers and perhaps you'll see that they aren't all that separated after all. You're never going to reach everyone, so try and reach as many as you can. Then talk to those that don't," Rick explained.

Kate had never really thought about all those days, weeks, months, even years of spending time with Dr. Burke would lead her to this.

A number of people had already confronted her about whether this move really was necessary. Kate asked where they lived and did it get cold there? When it did get cold what did they do because it was cold? Then take away their nice warm house. Their nice warm clothing that none of them had. Their nice warm car that they could use to go buy nice warm clothing.

Since they had none of those things it didn't take much to convince people. There was a lot of moaning and groaning about the mess they were all in. A lot of them wanted to go back to the way it was before their plane crashed. They liked their lives back then. They didn't have all these issues to deal with.

Once lady put it perfectly. "I don't want to be my great grandmother," she had lamented. Kate had sympathy for her since she wasn't looking forward to all the hard work that was ahead of her, either.

No electricity, no cars, no A/C, and limited ability to heat a house none of them had yet. There was one thing she'd left to everyone else. That was who got to use the small dome tents to have some privacy in. She didn't need to know what people did in them or listen to what they were doing in them. As long as they didn't fight over them was all she could hope for.

"Why are you smiling, Castle?" Suddenly Castle had this grin on his face and she was almost afraid to ask what was going on in that head of his.

"I was just thinking," Rick said, still grinning.

"Well don't strain yourself," Kate smiled since she was back to teasing him since teasing him was so much fun.

"We're moving so I don't have to break my back digging that hole to catch pigs instead of hunting them down," Rick explained. Kate laughed. She didn't know what it was about that sentence but it had her busting out laughing and couldn't stop.

Kate was trying to calm down though she suddenly felt a lot better and looked at Castle. "I'm sorry, Castle." Then she went back to laughing hard when she saw the face he was giving her.

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Kate joined Rick who was slicing off a piece of his pig to eat and asked him to slice a piece off for her. "Thanks, Castle." Kate chose not to nibble and watched as Castle sliced off another piece for her.

"You know what would be good about now?" Rick asked her.

"Ice cream?" Kate said; she could really use a cone with strawberry ice cream. Two scoops!

"Well there is that." Suddenly Rick wanted some ice cream. "But I was thinking more like a beer, actually," he informed her.

"Ooo, vodka, tequila shots," Kate said, quickly adding hard alcohol.

"Who has beer?" a voice called out since they'd overheard them talking. Then suddenly the word _beer_ started spreading and it rapidly morphed into _Free Beer._

Kate may have had her mouth full of pig. "We do not have beer. Free or otherwise." Kate worked at swallowing her pig. "Who here knows how to make beer?" Kate didn't remember that coming up when she had talked to everyone. However, she did see a hand go up.

"Great, you're now our official beer maker. What do you need?" Kate asked even if she knew they didn't have any of whatever it was.

"I need a ten gallon food grade plastic pail with a lid. A siphon hose. One hose clamp. Twelve two-liter plastic pop bottles with lids and one hydrometer or a thermometer. Malt extract, yeast and sugar. If you want better beer I need hops, molasses, licorice, herb teas, and herbs," he explained.

The woman standing next to him added her voice and kissed him showing that she was probably his wife. "He really does make good beer."

"Almost sorry I asked," Kate muttered and sliced off another piece of pig.

"Thankfully making coffee is easier," Rick commented and listened to Kate moan. He knew instantly he'd just put his foot in his mouth.

"Coffee. I'd kill for coffee." Leave it to Castle to take her from laughing her head off to wanting to kill him for bringing up her lack of coffee.

"I heard that!" someone piped up. They were still close enough to hear her.

"Amen," someone else said.

"It was your big mouth, Castle, so you better find a coffee plant for me." Kate pointed her finger at him as a threat.

"Leave it to me. I'll find them." Rick had no idea how but he would think of something.

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It was filthy so she washed it in the stream as best she could. She went back to what was left of the pig the next morning, cut off just the meat portion that she could find, then wrapped it in her piece of plastic and stuffed it into one one of her jean's pockets. It wasn't going to be nearly enough but at least it was something.

While the two main tents got taken down and everything that was anything got put back into the crates they came from, Kate got Castle and one of the hunters that had gone with him together.

"We've got over 500 people to get from here to Florida since freezing to death is something I would prefer to avoid. I need you two out front blazing a trail. You'll find that Castle has a lot of things stored away in that head of his. With this many people we're probably going to have a long line of people." Kate waited expectantly.

"We'll try and find a path that doesn't take us through the middle of a forest but no promises. The only part that worries me is the cliffs. Rivers are one thing but sheer cliffs are another," Jake Woodall warned her.

"I'm more concerned about snake bites or spider bites. Who knows what lives on this planet now," Rick said with a slight shudder.

"He has a point," Jake agreed.

"Get started, you two. I'll begin sending everyone. We stop when you stop. …Just stay safe, Castle." He was all she had left if he was right.

Kate got them moving and tried to make sure it was a nice long line. A line could be controlled. Having people spread out all over might get someone lost.

"You two are part of our hunting party, right?" Kate got a yes. "I would like you to be dead last if that's okay with you. What I need is for you to make sure no one gets left behind or falls out of line. We don't want to lose anyone." Kate got them to agree and found herself toward the end as she made sure everything was picked up and that everything they had was going with them.

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Kate noticed that the forest was always to their right and they seemed to be just skirting it on the east side while heading south. She just kept walking and watching out for pretty much everything: helicopters, jets, snakes, people getting lost, and the sun.

She also kept taking out her little bag of pig meat and nibbling on it until it was all gone. However, instead of throwing her piece of plastic away she stuffed it back into her pocket.

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It was getting late in the day and she was walking into a large group of people that weren't moving forward. Her questions gave her an answer – the line had stopped. She sighed and went toward the front until she eventually found Castle.

"Are we stopping?" She had no idea how far they'd come and likely might not ever now, day to day.

"We ran across our first obstacle. It's a small river. Jake's scouting it for the best place to cross. But since it'll be dark before we can get everyone across, we stopped," Rick explained.

"Works for me. I'll see if I can get teams together to collect some firewood and set up two or three fires. I don't suppose we have anything to fish with since it's a river?" Kate didn't remember anything that would work.

Seeing Castle shake his head killed that idea. "I'll see if I can get a pair of hunting teams out. Water and food are what's really going to slow us down." She was thinking people that were hungry and tired would walk slower, get pissed off, and decide to strike out on their own.

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Kate had two hunting teams out and kept asking if everyone was okay and that it was just day one. Finally she ended up next to Castle.

"Two months, huh?" Kate wasn't sure all of them were going to make it.

"Sorry." Rick knew there were risks but he wasn't leaving her side.

"It is what it is." Kate looked around and found that this spot wasn't all that much different from the last one. "At least it isn't raining."

"Jinx, I call jinx," Castle quickly countered and smiled since he was having fun with her.

"I'll have to owe you," Kate replied and looked over her big group. "At least they're not angry yet."

"Someone will eventually get angry, Kate. The question is how many idiots will listen to him or her?" Rick absently swiped at the grass he was sitting in.

"I do the best I can and try and keep them focused and hopefully fed and it shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully." Kate was well aware this was going to be a challenge.

"I'm still hoping for a helicopter, or a town, or even a farm just the other side of the next hill. And I still want those coffee beans." Kate poked him in the chest.

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Her hunting parties came back empty-handed though to be fair they weren't gone long since it would be dark soon.

The crossing of their little river hadn't turned out to be all that bad. Yes, people got wet but no one drowned and none of the women that had babies or children lost anyone.

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There was no river the next day though thankfully everyone had a chance to get a drink. Supposedly the planet wasn't polluted any longer so the water should be good to drink. That and no one detected anything bad in the water.

Then the very next day they had to cross yet another river that wasn't really all that big. They had spent most of that day getting across it then stopped. Since they had water Kate decided to send out all of their hunting teams and bring back anything they could.

They still had the forest just to their right and the river behind them.

Kate noticed that once again people were breaking up into small groups. She still wasn't sure how to prevent it.

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Hearing people getting excited Kate went to look. One of her hunting teams was coming back with something. It had antlers so that told her something.

Kate had three fire pits all set up and waiting for them. They just had to bleed it, gut it and skin it, then get it over the fire.

An hour later both of the other two hunting groups were back with what looked like the same thing.

It all took time and no one got to eat anything until it was almost dark. Then the three fires were used to light up the area and keep predators away.

They still had meat the next morning and Kate made sure everyone had eaten, especially the young children. She even cut off a piece, wrapped it up, and put it in her pocket.

Then she got them all moving again. They still had a long ways to go and they had only just started.

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Two days later and they'd crossed another small river or maybe it was more like a stream. The water was to their east and the forest was still to their west. Only now they were following the stream and going east.

Then the stream turned south and so did they. Still with the forest to the west.

Their stream went into the forest; they ended up crossing it and stayed out of the forest and kept going south.

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Three days later and Kate was way in back yet again and found that everyone had stopped. She also saw their white tents going up. She'd given orders that they only came out and went up if there was a reason.

Finding Castle, she saw that he was busy trying to help get both tents up as fast as possible while issuing orders to have a trench dug on three sides.

"Castle, what's going on?" All he did was just point and went back to yelling. Kate looked and what she saw didn't make her happy. They were dark clouds and it wasn't hard to see the rain that was headed their way.

She whistled again twice to get everyone's attention. "Storm clouds. Everyone poop and pee while you still can and not have to get soaked when you really have to do it." Kate even listened to her own words and went into the forest to find a spot and grabbed some dry leaves to clean with.

Her meat was long gone and no one was going to be hunting in the rain.

Kate stopped someone who was thinking about putting up one of the little dome tents. "No, no. Just the big tents. Forget the little dome tents for now."

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They soon realized it wasn't just a simple rain storm. It was a thunderstorm. It was dumping water on their tent and was making a mess of everything.

Thankfully the hurriedly dug ditch was working for now. Kate had Castle with her and they were standing just as close to the opening as they dared without getting wet and watched it rain.

"It had to happen eventually," Rick said.

"At least you spotted it and got the tents up." Kate was thankful for that. Otherwise they would all be in the forest trying to keep from getting soaked to the bone and likely failing miserably.

"Don't thank me. Jake saw it, I just had people getting the tents put up as fast as possible."

"Well thank you anyway." Kate felt him put an arm around her. At first she questioned it. There was a time she would have complained and took his arm away. It was just that this situation was different so instead of getting away from his arm she actually leaned into him and let him hold her.

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They ended up staying there for three days for several reasons. One, it was pointed out that their little stream with all that rain would be a lot bigger now, making crossing it more of a challenge if they came across it again or one just like it.

Two, what they needed was more food. Fresh water was easy, but to keep everyone happy you needed food. That presented a new problem. The forest was close but finding dry firewood for those fires was now more of a challenge.

And three, the tent canvas had to dry out so it wouldn't mildew and rot.

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With tents back down and packed away and everyone happy and full of meat at least, they kept going. At the end of the next day they ran across their first major problem. They had run across a lake that they didn't know the size of or just where it went and what fed it with water.

It gave Kate an idea. She had all the tents set up including the little dome tents. A couple of whistles later and she had almost everyone's attention.

"We're going to stay here for a few days. Our hunting teams are going to do double duty. Hunt for meat and scout out the lake, find the best way to go around it to keep going south. There are woods so I need volunteers to gather firewood for said fires. I also want volunteers to go look for nuts, fruits, or anything else that we can eat.

"I also want everyone in the lake. By that I mean we're going to take turns and wash our clothes. Remember if you have to go, go into the woods to do it. Do _not_ do it here. Also I want everyone barefoot. Dry out your shoes, dry out your socks. We can't cure athlete's foot or any other disease that affects feet that have been wet too long.

If you're bold enough go ahead and skinny dip; wash yourself while you wash your clothes. Just be considerate of others and don't give anyone a free show." Kate got some laughter out of that one. "Finally if anyone gets lucky and catches a fish, just remember to cook it and enjoy your catch. Let's get to work." Kate was done and went looking for dry firewood to help with that.

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It had been three more days and they were still next to the lake. Castle and his group had come back with meat and information. "Going east is out. Our lake's long and narrow then it turns into a river that winds its way east and south. Hopefully west is better," Jake said.

It wasn't what Kate needed to hear and now had her hopes pinned on one of the other hunting teams.

Right now she was almost naked and was in the lake after going south into the forest and realizing she was on a peninsula. With water on three sides, she'd stripped down to her panties then even took them off. She left everything behind and went out into the lake but still close to shore.

Then movement caught her eye and she saw Castle standing there, looking out at her. "No free shows, Castle."

Kate went back to scrubbing with the fine sand from the lake's bottom only this time she stayed mostly submerged and kept an eye on Castle. As she watched him he took off his shoes and socks. This was followed by his pants and his shirt. Now he was standing there next to her dry clothes wearing only his shorts.

"Take them off and get in here. You might as well get clean, too." Kate turned her back. She didn't peek until she could hear him in the water. Then she turned around to see only his head as he got closer and closer.

Rick was all smiles. "Skinny dipping, are we?"

"So it would appear," Kate said dryly.

"You know you could be attacked by a barracuda or something." Kate was all he had left in this world. His daughter and mother were long gone.

Kate found it kind of sweet. Typical Castle thinking that was over the top, but sweet.

"Just promise me you'll tell me if something bites you." Rick wasn't sure what he would do but he would do something.

"You'll be the first to know," Kate told him. "Do you want to scrub my back?" It was the only part of her she couldn't reach easily.

Rick wanted to say, _"More than anything." _And maybe at one point he would have. But he was different now. Kate had made him different.

"I promise not to let my hands wander and I won't peek." Rick watched her turn her back toward him.

Soon he was in heaven as he gently rubbed a handful of sand over her back. It was a good thing the lake wasn't crystal clear or Kate would be able to see his erection. The damn thing had a mind of its own.


	6. Chapter 6

**Your Future**

_Chapter 6_

"Thanks, Castle. Now turn around and I can do your back." He had done hers so it was only fair that she do his. She spun and Castle did the same.

At first she was actually scrubbing. She was rubbing hard using her hands with a little sand to help get him clean. However, soon she wasn't scrubbing any longer. She was softly running her hands over his back now. Simply feeling his skin under her hands. She was enjoying it. She was actually enjoying it maybe a little too much. Part of her wanted to do a lot more. She even suddenly found her lips getting closer and closer to his bare back with the intent to kiss it.

Then suddenly that part of her lost the fight. Kate did a drum beat on his back with her hands. "You're done," she announced. "I'm going to get dressed." Kate lowered down into the water and made her way toward where her clothes were until eventually she was forced to stand up with her back to Castle.

Rick was watching her every move she made and couldn't help but smile when she was finally out of the water and he got a look at her beautiful bare ass. While he willed her to turn around it was he that was turning around to give her some privacy. But that beautiful ass was now forever burned into his brain.

Kate turned her head and saw Rick was still standing but he had his back to her. She smiled at him as she began to get dressed. Except she needed to let the little breeze they had and the sun to dry her off first. So she stood there for a time before grabbing her panties and checking to see if there was still any blood.

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"Okay, Castle, you can come out of the water. I'll turn my back," Kate called out.

"I think I'll just stay here for now," Rick said. He needed to stay out here to get his erection to go down.

"Castle, get out of the water. Do you want to get eaten by Piranha?" Kate thought that might get him moving. But just then a cramp hit her. Her period was starting and if it started now it was going to make a potential mess of her blue jeans. Not what she needed.

Castle still had his back to her and she hadn't put her socks and boots back on yet so she hurriedly took everything back off and got back into the water as fast as she could.

Kate saw him start to turn so she sat down quickly. "Castle! Turn around." She couldn't get into deeper water sitting on her ass in the mud.

She saw him turn back around so she got back up and walked toward him to get into deeper water. Her next cramp wasn't nearly as bad and she kept walking.

"You okay out here, Castle?" Kate was now right behind him.

"You really think there are Piranha in this lake!?" Rick was still totally consumed with the possibility of there being Piranha in the lake. Maybe if he didn't move an inch they wouldn't find him.

"There are no Piranha in this lake, Castle. I swear you are _so_ easy." Kate loved teasing him. He was so much fun and so easy to get going. If she really wanted his money she could find a way for him to just give it to her.

"That was mean, Kate." Rick spun around so he could find her and maybe splash her or something. Maybe think of something else to do to her. However, she was right in front of him and she was topless. He was a guy and he cared about her; he couldn't resist looking down to see her breasts. But before he could see much Kate wrapped her arms around him and pressed her breasts into his chest.

"No free views, Castle." Maybe she hadn't really thought this through except to get back in the water and wait for her period to start. She could only think of getting close enough that he couldn't see anything.

What she hadn't expected was to learn something else. He had an erection and while she couldn't see it, she was betting Castle had a really good reason to live. He was a healthy man.

"Kate!?" He had his arms around her by instinct and he could feel his erection pressed into her. There was no way she couldn't feel that.

"Sorry, Castle." Suddenly she let go of him and turned her back to him. This was the closest they'd ever come to being naked and in each others arms. Being naked and in his arms with his coat wrapped around her after her apartment blew up didn't count.

Rick was more than ready and everyone they both knew was gone. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her and let his hands rest on her belly. "Kate?" If they couldn't do anything about this now, just when were they?

"I can't, Castle." Kate heard him moan after that and started to let go of her. Except she used her hands to stop his hands from leaving her. "My period's starting. It won't hurt but it'll be messy and I've got cramps."

Kate almost couldn't believe it. The part of her that was ready was moaning over the timing of it all. Their timing always had sucked and today wasn't any different.

Suddenly Rick's hands were massaging her belly and he was really pressing a little. "What are you doing, Castle?" The cramps for this period were bad enough without him trying to make them worse.

"Trying to help massage your cramps away. I lived surrounded by women, remember? And I was raising a daughter who started her period long ago and wanted to help her with hers," Rick explained

She seriously doubted that what he was doing was going to help but it was really sweet. "I don't think this is going to help." Feeling his erection behind her wasn't helping any, either.

"I'm guessing here, but this is why you like hot baths with salts and lavender so much," Rick said since he had read everything there was about a woman's period, cramps, and PMS that anyone had written in his attempt to help Alexis.

"Sounds like my secret's out. I don't think I'm going to get a hot bath with anything in it this time." They could make a fire to get the heat but they didn't have anything even remotely that looked like a bathtub.

Then suddenly Kate felt one of his hands going lower until she stopped it. "Castle, what are you doing?"

"When are you going to learn? I've read everything about a woman's period. What helps is taking Advil, Aleve, or Tylenol, exercise, putting a heating pad on your belly or lower back, taking a hot bath with said items, rest, or having an orgasm.

"We don't have a lot of those things so are you going to let me give you an orgasm or do you want to do it yourself?" Rick questioned her and knew what he wanted her to say.

However she didn't say a thing. Then a moment later she took her hand off of his and still didn't say a thing. That told Rick all he needed to know. The second his finger reached her core he heard Kate suck in a breath.

Kate knew she was still fighting it. But why she was fighting it was fading fast. It was why she was back out here naked and next to a naked Castle. Even in the days they'd been traveling they had yet to see anything or anyone. The country wasn't this empty. They should have at least been able to see farmland by now.

Kate had given herself an orgasm either using her fingers or using a dildo countless times. All too often lately it might be her fingers or a plastic dildo but in her head it was Castle. Now it really was Castle.

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**this section may be more "M" rated**

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Then suddenly one of his fingers was inside her which had her crying out. Kate knew she was vocal when having sex and now wasn't really a good time for her to be crying out or screaming so she bit her bottom lip.

"Castle!" It was a plea for more. He needed to… "YES!" Yeah, that was what she needed. She took his free hand and placed it on one of her breasts while her other arm reached up and tried to go around his neck backwards.

"GOD, CASTLE!" She went back to biting her bottom lip while she moaned from what he was doing to her.

"RICK, PLEASE!" she immediately moaned loudly. "GOD, YES!" Damn but his fingers knew what to do to her body!

"YES! Right there. …Fuck, Rick! Faster, harder." He somehow knew exactly what she wanted and did it instantly. Just before she screamed out her orgasm she managed to get her hand back around and clapped it over her mouth. Then Rick pinched her already hard nipple really hard. So hard that it hurt beautifully.

He was stroking her lips as she calmed down from her orgasm and was sure the only reason she was still standing was because he was holding her up. He was still slowly stroking her outer lips as her breathing slowed. It hadn't taken him long and it was one of the more powerful orgasms she had ever had.

She also felt more of her wall crumble and she did nothing to try and stop it or try and reinforce any other wall she still had. Her heart was almost wide open when suddenly his finger was back inside her.

She cried out, "RICK!" Damn but she was ready for another orgasm. "RICK, PLEASE!" Again like he was reading her mind that same finger started going in and out of her and got faster and faster. On every stroke part of him was tugging against her clitoris and in seconds she was ready for her second orgasm in such a short period of time.

Then suddenly that same finger wasn't inside her any longer, it was rubbing her clitoris at a breakneck speed. "RICK!" She erupted into her second orgasm.

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Kate found herself facing him and felt his arms holding her close. Her heart was still racing but she was calming down. Her arms were trapped between her body and his body and she couldn't think of anywhere that could be better than right where she was now.

"How do you feel?" Rick was hoping her cramps were gone now and that it had worked. Of course he'd never done this for Alexis, obviously. However that didn't mean he hadn't given her any of the information he had found to help her with her cramps. What she did with that information he had left to her.

Kate grinned. She didn't know if it had done anything for her cramps but she did feel better. She also heard him doing something in the water and she looked. He was shaking his hand in the water. That same marvelous hand.

There was a tiny touch of red. His finger had gotten bloody and he was washing it off. She also felt something else. He still had an erection and she was going to have to do something about that.

This time it was Rick that sucked in a breath when suddenly Kate's hand wrapped around his erection.

"I'm the cause of this, aren't I?" Kate knew she was in fact. "Come on, Castle." The water was too deep for her to do anything about it so she was leading him to shallower water while never letting go of him.

Finally they were in shallower water. Kate got down on her knees and got her first really good look at his cock. With her fingers firmly wrapped around it she had to admit that he had a really nice cock. It was a pity it was her period or they could do more.

The second she heard him moan she took him into her mouth and gave the head the tongue lashing it so richly deserved.

She had a truly talented mouth. Rick had been dreaming about this day for months, years, even so he wasn't going to last long at this rate. He was soon proved correct even though he was trying not to. He climaxed directly into her mouth and knew Kate was swallowing all of it. She was even still licking and trying to squeeze and suck out every last drop.

Then suddenly she was standing in front of him. "Better?" Kate asked him and his response was to kiss her, to try and make the kiss as passionate as any kiss they had ever had.

They were both standing there barely able to breathe. "We are so making love when my period's over," Kate told him and kissed the corner of his mouth.

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**"M" rated section is now over**

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"I don't have any condoms," Rick reminded her.

"I don't have any birth control pills, either. So we're just going to have to risk it," Kate said and kissed him again.

Kate stood there and let him hold her. "We should see if your clothes are dry and get back. God knows what those people have done with me gone." Then she rested her head against his chest. "I can't believe I just said that."

"Your secret's safe with me. …How long are we staying here?" Rick inquired.

"Couple more days. Just long enough to make sure everyone has eaten something. Then we pack up and move on. Hopefully to the west around our lake." Crossing a big river that might be running fast was not something she thought they might survive. At least not all of them.

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Rick's clothes were in fact mostly dry so he got dressed while Kate did.

"How are your cramps?" Rick asked her.

"Actually better for now." It was just day one of her cramps and she knew it. At least these weren't that bad. She'd had cramps before that had left her in the bed the entire day. "Thanks." She wasn't sure her two orgasms had anything to do with it, but she did feel a lot better and it wasn't just because her cramps were gone for now.

"Let me know if you get them again and we can try that again somehow," Rick offered.

"I'll think about it." She wasn't used to having anyone help her with her cramps. Not since her mother had helped her before being killed.

Suddenly Kate felt him slip his arms around her. "You're sure you're okay?" Rick asked her.

"If you're right whoever killed my mother has been dead a long time. I can't help but wonder what really happened," Kate said.

"You think I haven't wondered about just that? Alexis and Mother got all my money. Well, after the government got theirs. I trust her, but what really happened? I didn't get to walk her down the aisle. I wasn't there when she needed me. I don't know who held her heart. I don't know if she had kids or what she finally chose for a career. Did she do what you did?" Rick was full of questions.

Kate twisted in his arms and took his face in her hands. "She was a good kid, Castle. She had a good head on her shoulders. You did great with her. I'm sure she was fine. Sad but fine." Kate slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, a sweet kiss.

"I'm more concerned that my dad went back to drinking. Losing Mom had been hard enough. Did he withstand losing me, too?" Kate worried a lot about her dad.

"I think you underestimate what he learned last time. Was he just as hurt and sad as Alexis? …You know it would be great if we decided to think that Alexis and Jim got together and helped each other get through it," Rick said.

"A little mushy but I like it. Come on, Castle, let's go find out what everyone's done." Kate squeezed him then let go of him and they made their way back to camp.

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They soon saw the white tents and the smoke from their fires. "I wonder what those stupid kids are doing?" Kate said as they got closer.

"One of two things. First, they selected their own leader and are still back there at least until it gets cold. Probably too late. Second, they're right behind us. Just out of sight following us. Just maybe more hungry than we are," Rick suggested.

"I'll bring it up to the hunter group that's always behind us. Maybe they can spot them if they are there. Smoke from a fire, maybe," Kate mentioned.

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It turned out going west to get around the lake was the way to go. They'd stopped again just before it got dark then went back to walking the next day.

About midday the sun was right above them. Kate saw that it looked like they were stopping again. When she asked why she was told they'd found something.

That had her continuing to walk until she saw Castle and some others. All of them looked to be digging through what looked like an even bigger dumpsite.

Rick had already proved that only plastics would still be around so why were they digging? "What have we got, Castle?" Except in answering her question he threw her this bright orange container.

The paper around it was long since gone but even she knew what it was. "Tide." Looking inside showed that it had dirty yucky water in it. She held it out. "Someone hang onto this thing." If they could clean out the inside it might be useful someday.

Kate kept watching and Castle pulled out something made of more thin plastic and wordlessly held it out to her after looking at it. He looked at Kate.

Kate could just barely make out something that had her heart stop. Part of it was missing but she could still read it. "Knoxville!" Kate looked around and didn't see a lot of anything. "We're in Knoxville, Tennessee." Castle had been right all along. As had that sick-looking guy with the wild orange hair before sending them all here.

Kate held it out for someone to take it from her. "We really are way out in the future. We are all that's left of the human race." She felt all the color of not just her face leave her but maybe her whole body.

"Downtown Knoxville." It shouldn't be possible and yet she had evidence that said otherwise. Her job had always been about following the evidence.

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Kate and Rick soon found that the word had spread at lightning speed. Any ideas that they just had to find a town, a farm, or someone somewhere were now gone.

Kate heard crying and turned to look. She was guessing the woman's husband was holding her. She felt for her. Kate had actually held out hope. Now that hope was gone.

Kate was too defeated to keep walking today. She also didn't feel like being in command today. She didn't know what to tell them anyway.

"Set up fire pits for the night. Volunteers for firewood," Kate yelled out. "Rain?" Kate asked since they hadn't been rained on lately. She saw the guy next to Castle shaking his head. "We keep moving in the morning." They still weren't even halfway yet.

Kate willingly tried to disappear in Castle's arms when he wrapped them around her. It was a lot to take.

Even Rick didn't want to say anything. He'd been proven right but that didn't make him happy. It truly meant they had problems. He didn't even want to ask her how her cramps were today.

Except for some plastic trash Knoxville, Tennessee was gone. Long since gone.

At least they now knew exactly where they were and how far they still had to go to reach Florida so they could get away from a winter that might kill them all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Your Future**

_Chapter 7_

They left the very next day and Kate was back toward the rear again because she wanted to make sure everyone was going to come along and didn't decide to just stay here.

However almost as soon as she began walking she was forced to stop so she moved forward through the group of people to see what was wrong this time.

What she saw dismayed her. It was a river and this time it was a real river and while it wasn't white water it looked fast flowing enough to make it a challenge.

As she watched, those that thought they knew how to swim were going across on their own. Yet as she watched she saw that yes, they were swimming, but they were going downstream with the river. This was going to be a problem.

Apparently someone had planned for this a little because the next group was using a few dead logs that had been lashed together using vines to hold onto as they kicked their way out into the river. Naturally they went down the river even faster.

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Kate had heard a lot of yelling but really didn't know just why. There were only two people behind her and that was the two hunters she had placed as dead last. They both assured her they were fine and would be right behind her.

Kate quickly found that the river was indeed a challenge. By the time she reached the other side she'd had enough of swimming. She wasn't surprised to find Castle wading out into the river to help her.

Turning to look behind her she saw her two hunters swimming just a little past her and getting help to get out of the river.

Since everyone was now soaked to the bone Kate decided this was a good place to stop and get dry. However, they found themselves on the edge of a forest which was not helpful so they were forced to walk soaked to the bone until they got out of it.

Except they never did. Even Kate was almost dry when she found everyone stopping again and saw the first tent going up. It wasn't so much that they were out of the forest but they were in a large enough area to put up both tents.

Kate found Castle. "You said you wanted us to stop just the other side of the Tennessee River, well this is as good as it gets," Rick told her.

"Is there supposed to be a forest here?" Kate didn't know the area at all.

"I'm told no but that's not only why I thought we should stop." Rick didn't know how to break it to her. "Kate, we lost some people to the river."

"No!" She had truly afraid that they were going to lose people along the way but having it confirmed was worse. Then suddenly she found Rick's arms around her. "How many?" Kate whispered into his chest since that was where her head was.

"It's hard to tell exactly but we're guessing somewhere in the 30s." Rick tightened his hold on her.

Kate was still able to pull away a little. "WHAT!?" She looked up at him, her face pale.

"Based on eyewitness descriptions it sounds like they let themselves drown." Rick hated the idea of suicide. Though he also saw the reason for it.

"OH, GOD!" Kate pressed her face into his chest. She had failed thirty some odd people. She should have been more careful. This was all on her. She had placed herself in charge and now people were dead.

"Best guess as to why is that Knoxville was just too much for them. The planet's empty of people save for us and they couldn't take it." It was what Rick and a few others he'd talked with could come up with.

Rick rubbed her back as he listened to Kate cry while holding her.

"How is she?" Jake could tell it was hitting her hard. So it was a stupid question.

"Knoxville was just the final straw, Kate. Boss. There wasn't anything you could do about it. If it wasn't the river they would have just walked out into the forest, never to be seen again," Jake said quietly.

Kate wasn't listening. "I put myself in charge and I failed them."

Jake tried to reach her, to help her see this wasn't her fault. "This isn't a car trip with the family to Walt Disney World here. This trip was about life and death before we even started. We died in those plane crashes only we didn't. I saw the air on the other side of the glass. They're dead and we're all that's left."

"How is she, babe?" His wife Julie walked up next to him and then saw for herself. "Might be best to let her cry it out. She's strong enough to get us this far, she's strong enough to keep going." She took hold of her husband's arm. "We should go hunting before it gets any later. Come on, Jake."

"Stay here, Rick. We can handle this." He patted his shoulder and left with his wife to find a third person and go hunting before it got dark. They could dry out while hunting then take care of their feet.

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Rick was actually amazed as he held onto Kate and watched. Even without her telling people what to do they came together and did what was needed. He watched as two teams went out hunting. Others went out to gather firewood while still others finished putting up the two tents then started digging a trench to divert rain water around it.

Kate had calmed down just as he watched them get ready for meat to come back and be cooked. "Feeling better?" Kate had stopped crying but wasn't trying to get away from him yet.

"No." She took their deaths very personally. People shouldn't die if it was preventable. That and she was in charge.

"You should at least look, Kate. You've taught them well. The tents are going up. Fire pits are being put together. People are gathering firewood and more people are out hunting for food."

He finally felt her move and watched her look around. "You've done pretty good." Rick was still proud of her. "I keep telling you that you're extraordinary. Maybe one day you'll believe me.

"Most of us are still a little wet, by the way. Just like you are," Rick pointed out.

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It was late that first day and Kate was sitting next to Castle eating what one of their hunting teams had come back with. It was just the one but it had been bled, gutted, skinned, and cut in half. She wasn't really all that hungry but Castle wouldn't take no for an answer so she sat there and nibbled on what she had.

Then she saw him walk away and come back with two handfuls. He handed her one of them. "I don't want to hear it. I'm not letting you starve yourself because you're hurting. When have I ever let you go hungry even if you wanted to?" Rick challenged her.

"Thanks, Castle." She wasn't interested in eating but she did.

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They ended up staying there for three days and left on a pleasant clear blue sky day to continue their march to Florida.

Rick and Kate had done a silent count since she didn't want people to suddenly freak out on them. She had her count and Castle gave her his. They had to make sure they weren't counting someone twice so they went over it together.

"Thirty-two people." Kate shook her head. At one lousy river after finding what used to be Knoxville they had gone from 547 people to 515 people. Thankfully from what they could tell none of them were babies or children. "We're not even half way there yet," Kate lamented.

"We'll get there, we just need to be careful," Rick promised.

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That same day they exited the forest then saw another one not that far away. It was decided to follow the edge of the forest and keep going mostly south.

The very next day Kate found them stopped and went forward to find out what it was this time. "OH, CRAP!" It wasn't a lake, it was a river.

"We think it's the very same river as the last one, unfortunately," Rick informed her. "It goes into the forest. One team went into the forest to see where it goes and another went north to see if there's a safer crossing. This might be trouble."

Kate let her head fall to her chest. This wasn't what they needed. "The Tennessee River." Kate shook her head. She was ready to rename it the River of Death. They could lose more people crossing it again.

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Three hours later and the team to the north was back with grim looks on their faces. "Worse. Without boats we'll never cross it," Kate was told. She thanked them and sent them to get some rest.

Then two hours later the other team was back and they were equally as grim. "It doesn't get any better. It's all down hill to reach the river then back up again on the other side."

Kate wanted to curse but she wasn't willing to give up. "So what are our options? We just left Knoxville so where do we go next?" Kate queried since she just didn't know.

"To guarantee access to fresh water we need to follow this where it leads us. Straight through the forest, I'm afraid. If I'm right this is the Nantahala National Forest. There are bigger Forests but for us it's big enough to be a problem," Jake told her.

"How long?" Kate asked, meaning how long was it going to take them to cross it?

"A week maybe. Maybe longer depending on how much the forest has changed from what I remember. We're reaching the limits of what I know about this area. The closer we get to Florida the less helpful I'm going to be." Jake hated to admit it but he didn't get too far south.

"You've done what you can and I'm very grateful. Ask around, maybe there's someone here who has. If not I would still like you up here with Castle," Kate said.

"Rick has an excellent map in his head. Even if he's never set foot on the ground here he knows exactly where we are. We make it the other side and we might be about half way there. I would suggest staying here until sunrise then get going." He left them to go find his wife and get her up here for tomorrow.

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Three days in and they were forced to stop. Getting fresh water, while available, wasn't always easy. Worse they hadn't eaten anything in almost four days so they had to stop.

They didn't have the ability to put the two main tents together since there wasn't enough open ground. So they were separated by a few yards. And if they didn't want to catch the entire forest on fire they had to be seriously careful where they put their fire pits while teams, including Castle, went out hunting for game to feed them.

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"How we doing, Castle?" She wanted to know where they were and how far they needed to go yet.

"We're just barely in North Carolina. Next is either Georgia or South Carolina, which ever way we go next based on actual terrain. We're still not even half way there yet. I'm really sorry, Kate, but my idea of this taking us two months might have been a bit off. It's looking more like three months instead of two," Rick apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Castle. We just have to get there without losing anyone else. Right now I'm still hungry. At least we have some good hunting teams and that includes you." Kate kissed his cheek and left him to go get more to eat.

Kate came back with her little plastic bag filled with meat. "How have your cramps been treating you lately?" Rick asked her since she hadn't complained after that one day.

"All gone now. Thanks for what you did, by the way." Her two orgasms had actually helped a little. Her panties were spotted with dried blood but her blue jeans were still clean which was all she cared about.

"How are your shoes holding up?" Castle, she had noticed, was wearing what he usually did. Meaning he was overdressed for this.

Rick lifted up a foot to look at his shoe. It was still in one piece thankfully. "My feet hurt. I never thought I would be walking cross country in dress shoes." He had long ago stuffed his tie into his pocket. "You at least have boots without high heels, I've noticed." Rick looked at her boots.

Kate lifted a foot to look at one. "I was on vacation and chasing a killer in California. Didn't think running through sand in high heels was a good idea. So far they've held up well. What I don't know is what I can do for those girls that are wearing flip flops or those Crocs." Kate felt sorry for them.

"I'm pretty sure they weren't thinking about walking 770 miles or more cross country when they chose them, either. We handle what we can, Kate," Rick said and thought about it.

"You know, we do have a good number of skins now. Maybe someone knows how to make Indian moccasins for them." It was the best he could come up with. They'd killed and skinned a number of animals by now.

"Excellent idea, Castle!" Kate liked it and kissed his cheek. She got up to find just that person or persons.

Rick touched his cheek where Kate had kissed it and smiled. He liked this Kate Beckett a lot better. The Kate Beckett he knew would never have let him done what he had done because of her cramps. Now she was kissing him willingly like it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

"And the engagement ring I got her just in case is way back in New York City. That doesn't even exist any longer." Rick shook his head. At least they were still together even if they weren't solving murders.

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After stopping for two days it took them five long days to go hunting again, to leave the forest and look out at what was ahead of them.

Then instead of going south they went east. "Why east?" Kate questioned when they stopped the next day.

"South is nothing but lakes according to the map in Rick's head and we don't have boats," was the answer she got.

"Oh! …Your map better be right, Castle. Just remember your feet hurt," Kate reminded him.

"Thanks for that, Kate." Rick wasn't happy to be reminded.

Two days later they finally turned south. There was still a lot of trees, but these trees were not that tightly packed together and easier to travel through.

Two more days later and they had stopped again; the tents were being put up quickly. A pair of men were already quickly digging a trench.

"FIREWOOD NOW. WHILE WE STILL CAN!" Kate yelled out and even helped to get said firewood. Since they were short 32 people in their two big tents they had a place to stack it to try and keep it dry for later.

Kate was almost in the tent with another load when the sky opened up on them. She dropped her load and while staying in the tent, went in search of Castle. She soon found him since their two tents weren't that big.

"Thunderstorm again?" Kate asked.

Julie, Jake's wife who was in her husband's arms as they all watched, answered, "Worse. Those dark clouds out there?" she pointed. "They are showing signs of rotation."

"Meaning?" Kate wasn't following.

"Tornado. At home we'd either be under a tornado watch or tornado warning," she explained.

"I thought we were in South Carolina now. This isn't Tornado Alley," Kate said, somewhat confused.

"We are. Doesn't mean they don't have tornadoes, though," Julie replied.

Kate looked around. "We don't have a basement. What do we do now?"

"Nothing to do but pray it doesn't come this way. Or if it does that it doesn't touch the ground. Most only stay on the ground for a minute or two. One way or another it'll be over fast." She stepped into her husband's arms and let him hold her close.

Rick tried to interject some humor. "Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Toto! It's a twister! It's a twister!

"Not funny, Castle." Kate didn't see anything funny about a tornado that might kill all of them and wipe out the human race.

"Wizard of Oz?" Jake asked him.

"Airplane," Rick corrected him.

"That movie was stupidly hilarious," Jake grinned. "Now Airplane II was just plain stupid."

"Just don't start screaming when you see a cow go flying across in front of us." Rick kept up with his humor. It was his primary coping mechanism.

Jake busted up laughing. "Or an 18 wheeler tanker truck come tumbling our way." He kept laughing. "Well if I'm going to die and least I'm going to die laughing." He'd stopped laughing but he was still smiling.

"Or was it a firetruck with the alarm still sounding?" He couldn't remember any longer.

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"Here it comes!" Jake shouted. He could see it form out of the clouds. He felt his wife hug him. Rick felt Kate do the same to him.

"And there it goes, back up into the clouds. Not strong enough system, I guess." He wasn't an expert but he knew enough. "Still plenty of wind, though." He left his wife and got busy trying to close the tents flaps.

"Thank God!" Kate turned and saw a lot of the tents' occupants looking their way.

"First a plane crash tries to kill us. Then a damn river tries to drown us. Now a tornado tries to wipe us out. Doesn't Florida have hurricanes?" He wasn't sure just what to do.

"Every year," Jake answered

"And California has earthquakes. Tornado Alley has hundreds of tornadoes every year. We stay up north and we freeze to death. I'm still open to suggestions." Kate was willing for someone to take over.

"It's just that Florida's warmer. Citrus fruit grows there and we can still hunt. And we won't freeze to death! If we can just figure out how not to kill each other maybe we'll survive. Those people went to a lot of trouble to take us off of crashing planes and send us here." Kate left Castle and argued with the vocal few since it looked like everyone was watching and listening.

"I'm a homicide detective and I saw people kill each other for more reasons than I think even Castle, here, has dreamed up in his books. I'd have quit my job with pleasure if we could just stop killing each other.

"I've had kids kill over a single stick of bubble gum. A husband thought his wife was cheating on him. An illegal alien just wanted his forged passport so he could get out of this country safely. They kill whoever is home in a house raid so they can steal all they have. They create fake money plates so they can print counterfeit money. And don't get me started on who they kill over illegal drugs. Then there are the kids that kill any innocent person they see so they can join a gang.

"We're it, people. If we can't learn from our mistakes and other people's mistakes we might as well have died in those plane crashes. That or we can start killing each other off right now. And if anyone gets any ideas about that, I have a question for you. How many people does it take to even begin to repopulate the planet and not end up with inter family breeding?

"Or perhaps you would prefer we all split up into either a Hatfield or a McCoy." Kate was done talking. She was still sure she was in over her head and was still questioning just why she had volunteered herself for this.

"The answer to that question depends on what scientist you listen to." Rick was full of information. You just had to be at the right place at the right time for it to be useful. "Anywhere from 98 to 500 to prevent inbreeding handicaps. Things like permanent blindness. It may start as color blindness. The next generation may end up totally blind forever as well as every generation thereafter. The child may not be able to learn to walk until they are eight years old and may be born sterile. Depending on which scientist you listen to we may already be at the minimum necessary."

"I've learned the hard way to trust what Castle has learned. I have no idea where he stores it all, but it's in there somewhere." Kate stared at him.

Then Kate watched as his lips came down to one of her ears. "I also remember you wanting to reserve a place in one of those domed tents." Rick pulled back and saw her blush.

"Just when I'd given up wanting to have more children," one woman said out loud.

"It's too late for me," an older lady spoke up, getting a couple of agreements.

"Everyone here is useful. Everyone." Kate didn't want to hear it. There was too much at stake.


	8. Chapter 8

**Your Future**

_Chapter 8_

Kate was watching as the tents came down so that they could get going since they still had a long ways to go yet.

They'd had two major scares so far. Losing people at the river had been an eye-opening event. Kate was willing to chalk some of it up to not having strong enough swimming skills. However, after Knoxville she couldn't ignore the idea that they had committed suicide by drowning. Finding out that literally everything and everyone outside of this group was dead was a lot to take.

Then had come a potential tornado that would maybe kill everyone. Even if it didn't outright kill everyone, the damage might have been catastrophic. Injuries that they couldn't repair or maybe bodies that they would never find.

"Kate?" a soft voice called, which had Kate spinning around to find a group of women all together and looking at her.

Kate looked past them and save for kids and the older women this was all of them.

"We have a few questions," one of them told her.

"I can guess but go ahead." Kate took a deep calming breath and waited.

"We've been talking since the tornado. We're all the woman capable of having children. We're wondering just what you're thinking," she said.

"To be honest I haven't thought that far ahead. I was still holding out hope until Knoxville. Of course it had been getting worse and worse as we traveled. No planes, no towns, not even one farm or farm house. Knoxville was simply a slap in the face.

"As to children," Kate sighed then continued. "I have no intention of having multiple children with different men even if we might need that much different DNA. It's just not going to happen. To be honest I wasn't even sure about ever having children.

"I didn't have a boyfriend at the time and had no prospects at ever even being married. I'm still not sure what's going to happen," Kate told them.

"You're very friendly with Castle," one of them mentioned.

Kate turned to look for him until she saw him helping people to get ready to leave. "Castle and I have been…complicated ever since I met him. We're still a bit complicated but I think we're getting there." _I want to get there_ was what she was thinking.

It had taken her a year of therapy to abandon her quest to bring to justice the person who had killed her mother when along came Castle. He just couldn't stay out of her personal life and had stirred everything up. She did have to admit it was because of him that she'd gotten as far as she had. But it had helped to make her relationship with him that much more complicated.

"So you're not thinking of having us have lots and lots of babies with different men?" They finally got to the point of why they were there talking to her.

"Definitely not! I'm no more a baby factory than any of you are. If I have a baby it's only going to be by one man. If there are more than one that'll be up to us. Just like it'll be up to you. Have a baby or don't. If the human race doesn't survive then it wasn't ever meant to. Those people that sent us here may have had a plan but we're the ones that have to make it work.

"I'm not a dictator. I'm just trying to do what I can to make sure all of us have a chance to live. When we make it to Florida and survive a winter there we're going to have to make a big choice. How do we live? Who or how many of us are in charge.

"One major change we have is that it's only us. No foreign governments. No foreign armies. No nuclear missiles. I'm not even sure we should be calling ourselves Americans or any other country name.

"They sent us here to start again. So maybe that's just what we should do. Start all over again. …Does any of this help?" Kate asked them.

Kate watched as they gathered and spoke to each other in whispers. Meanwhile she looked around and wasn't surprised to see Castle walking toward her. She actually found she liked it better when he was next to her.

"Should I go away?" Rick saw all the younger woman next to Kate and they appeared to be talking to each other.

"No, you can stay," Kate said.

"We want you to lead us even after we get there. We'll get the men to see it our way. No offense." They saw that Castle had joined her.

Rick held up his hands. "You'll get no objection from me. I learned years ago that Kate's extraordinary. I just have trouble getting her to see it. I may be a guy but I'm no fool. Most men think with the brain between their legs." He got several of the woman to chuckle.

"Men have ruled this planet since day one and look what it cost us. A dead planet so choked with pollution they killed it. Maybe it was a guy that dreamed up that time machine and maybe it wasn't. However, if you want Kate in charge you have my support and I'll give her all the support I can or she's willing to let me help her with." Rick cupped his hand around the side of his mouth to deflect his voice away from Kate. "…She's stubborn."

All the women watched as Kate turned to glare at him like she was ready to hit him for that comment. Then she turned back to the women.

"The answer is still no. Anything else?" Kate questioned them. She saw a lot of shaking heads. Since they were done she had a few questions of her own.

"How are the babies and the little ones?" Kate really couldn't do much for them. She was simply doing all she could for everyone.

"I think we're fine. We've learned to walk while nursing," one of them offered and looked at others.

"Mine is simply bored and tired of walking," one said.

"Don't get me started on what my teenager wants. No computer, no cell phones, no internet, no twitter, or anything else. You'd think their life was over and we should just kill them and get it over with," one woman told her and Kate heard laughter from others.

"I can't fix that and don't know if even their children will have that." Kate was sorry for them.

"Think Flintstones and that's us," Rick said brightly and got a little laughter. "Just without Dino or other dinosaurs. Maybe soon we'll be Indians, just without cowboys trying to kill us."

"Ladies?" Kate queried since they needed to get going again.

"Thanks, Kate. Just get us there alive," one of them asked.

"I'm doing my best. Oh, if you have shoe trouble just ask around. We have lots of skins now so maybe we can make something next time we stop." Kate watched them disperse back to their families or just friends.

Kate instantly found Rick's arm around her and she leaned into him. "Flintstones, huh?" She looked up at him.

"They at least had cars and roads even if the bridges were huge dinosaurs. And don't get me started on bowling and golf or their TV sets." Rick smiled at her.

"Does that mean you're willing to work in a rock quarry?" Kate teased him.

"Yabba-Dabba-Doo!" Rick chanted and got Kate to laugh at him which was precisely what he wanted. She was already pretty in his eyes. When she laughed she was gorgeous and it was a sound that he loved to hear.

"Come on, Fred, we still have a long ways to go." Kate was ready to start walking again.

"Right behind you, Wilma." Rick walked behind her. "You realize for this to work we have to have Pebbles together," he teased her.

Kate, though, didn't bite…much. "Better than naming him Cosmo, Castle."

It took Rick a moment. "Wait, does that mean you want to have a baby?"

"Just get out in front, Castle. You're our map or we may never get to Florida." Kate made her way to the rear again so she could make sure no one fell behind.

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They spent the next two days traveling down the side of what they could best work out was one long lake. It didn't flow like a river and it was also far too wide for them to cross without boats. The main problem was that it was totally irregular and reached out like large snakes or something. Having trees everywhere didn't help any.

Then they lost two more days effectively doubling back only to find a stream feeding the lake that they were going to have to cross. So they stopped and planned to spend three days so they could hunt after starving for the last four days save for the little bit they found along the way.

Kate smiled as the same people put up the two tents where they could. The same two men dug trenches around both of them. While groups went out to gather firewood.

Just to be safe they crossed their stream in the event that the skies opened, poured rain, and swelled it to something much bigger.

Then the four little dome tents got put up for people to have some privacy inside.

Kate had just dropped her load of firewood and was looking at her scraped arms and was thankful it was just some scrapes. She could recover from that. Then she found a crate and stood on it.

Two loud whistles later she had everyone's attention. "We happen to be in South Carolina as best we can tell. In about a week we should reach where Augusta, Georgia used to be. Somewhere around then we should be halfway. The plan is to stay here for three days. As usual do your business out in the forest. Go down to the lake and spend some time cleaning up if you wish. Do some skinny dipping, have some fun.

"Right now I want everyone's shoes off and socks off. Let them and your feet dry out after the stream crossing. Try to relax, eat something when they get back, and get ready to keep going. …That's it." Kate got off her crate and looked around.

Then she got back on her crate and whistled again. "If your shoes are failing you, ask around. We have skins from our previous kills around here somewhere. Maybe someone can make you something to wear. …That's it again." Kate jumped back down.

Now she just needed for Castle to come back. "Castle, I need you." She felt empty with him not being there.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

It was bled, gutted, skinned, and cut into two. Both of them, actually, and a fourth fire pit had been hastily assembled. Kate hadn't even had to ask.

Kate was sure she shouldn't have eaten so much but they had been walking for days with nearly nothing to eat so she had stuffed herself. She'd gotten used to not eating all that much on any given day, but this was different.

"Any idea what kind of game is in Florida?" Kate was sitting on the ground next to Castle as they both ate.

"Deer, turkey, more pig though likely wild hog instead of just a pig, small game like squirrel, rabbit. Oh, and gator, naturally," Rick answered.

"Alligator. Sounds dangerous just to get some meat." Kate wasn't sure they would be eating any of those.

"Their jaws are very powerful. But only when closing on something. A simple piece of string can hold it closed. Plus they make great shoes," Rick added.

"Sold." Kate would take any pair of shoes she could get.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate was allowing Rick to take her hand and take her somewhere, not that she knew just what he had in mind. However, that didn't last long since the only thing in front of them was one of their two man domed tents.

She grinned as she followed him inside. She watched him zip it closed then watched him sit down.

"What are you thinking here, Castle?" She was pretty sure she was ready, but he might have to push her into it a little.

"I want you to talk to me. I know we don't talk. We kiss and we don't talk. I save your life and we don't talk. I watch you kissing Demming and we don't talk. Then you're kissing Doctor Motorcycle boy and still we don't talk.

"It's just us now, Kate. Everyone else is dead. Every single person I knew. Everyone I loved or cared about died so long ago even my mind is having trouble with it. Do you have any idea how long it takes for an entire city the size of Knoxville to just up and vanish? So we're talking. Since we're staying here tomorrow we have all night." Rick sat there and looked at her with sad eyes.

He was asking her to bare her soul. He was right, though, talking was not something they were any good at. Teasing and various amounts of not really talking, they were really good at. They were more than capable of ending each other's sentences. So attuned to one another that words weren't always needed.

"It took me an entire year of therapy to get past my mother's killer before it destroyed me. But you already know that. What you don't know is that I never stopped seeing my therapist. Once a week, week after week, day after day, year after year.

"I have walls, Castle. Meant to keep people out; then you came along. My simple life that I thought I was happy with, you just picked it up and shook it. Turned everything on its head. That very first case that you talked yourself into, I thought you were a complete jackass. A playboy whose only interest was getting in my pants.

"Spank me! Seriously? I didn't want anything to do with you. I fought with Montgomery to get rid of you more than once. Except no matter what I said or what I did you never actually went away.

"Then you suddenly became useful. There were even cases that I knew I was never going to solve without you. That was when I knew you were getting past some of my walls to keep you out.

"Demming was a nobody that I could use to keep you out and protect my heart. Then I dumped him and was all set to say I wanted to go to the Hamptons with you. Take some vacation and actually stay at least a week." Kate stopped as she watched Rick bend down and put his head in his hands.

"OH, GOD! And I walked out with Gina. How stupid can I get? I really am the stupidest person on the planet." Rick couldn't believe it. All that time wasted.

"Then you didn't even call!" Kate was still hurt over that.

Rick's face turned red and his voice got louder. "You were with Demming. Going to the beach with him. You had a boyfriend and it wasn't me. Why should I call? How was I supposed to know you broke up with him? None of you called me, either. Everyone had my cell phone number."

"We made mistakes," Kate granted that part.

"Yeah." Rick shook his head. "For the record Gina lasted one whole week then she left. Even though we dated a little after I came back all we really did was fight until I ended it."

"I heard," Kate admitted. "I wasn't really trying to eavesdrop but I was and maybe I meant to. I wanted you to dump her."

"So instead you take up with…." Rick hated him so much he couldn't say his name.

"Josh. …Josh was another easy way out. You were so close and it scared the hell out of me. What if I let you in and fell in love with you only to find out that you really were just a playboy looking to get in my pants.

"Josh was easy. He was never there. He was gone half the time to some third world country playing doctor. If I gave you hope you would stay and not leave me. You would be my partner and yet not be that kind of partner. It was safe.

"Yet I was going to therapy so I could get out of that. I wanted to make myself better. To make myself worthy of being loved. I was a mess, Castle. Even if it didn't look like it I was all screwed up inside." Kate had told him just about everything, save for some of her sessions with her therapist.

"My mother has been trying to get me to talk to you for months. Except I knew that if I pushed it would simply drive you away." Rick saw her nod. Kate knew that was exactly what she would have done.

"Even when I chased you out to California Alexis wasn't one of your best fans. She saw me come home hurting with what you had done now and kept questioning me, wanting to know why."

"I'm sorry, Castle. I'm so very sorry. Lanie tried to get me to understand. Even Javi tried to get me to see. Kyra told me you were now all mine. And Serena told me that she didn't steal what didn't belong to her.

"I didn't listen. I wasn't ready to listen. Even Royce, the reason I went to California, told me and I didn't listen." Kate even had his letter on her and pulled it out so she could hold it again.

"So what do we do, Kate? Everyone we know is gone. It's just us now." Rick left it up to her like it always was.

"You could make love to me." Kate could feel her heart pounding because this was it. If they did this there was no going back. She would be opening her heart again and if Rick crushed it, even if he didn't mean to, it was going to hurt even worse than losing her mother ever had.

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Kate was taking a break by lying across Rick since sex with him was like nothing she had expected. She had skill at sex but apparently so did Rick. It wasn't just his hands that knew what to do, so did his lips, and his cock.

She was tired, sweaty, and breathing heavy as she tried to recover. Then she felt Rick's hand on her ass and he rubbed it then suddenly her anus and while having anyone in her ass wasn't her, she was still so interested is sex that she was liking it. It was just that his cock was way too big for her ass.

"Rick, what are you think… OH, GOD!" His finger slipped into her ass with ease. While she still wasn't interested in having his cock in her ass she was liking this and she reached for his cock to get him hard.

Now Kate was on top and lowering herself down on him until he was deep inside her. Damn but he felt so good inside her.

Kate was enjoying herself immensely as she watched him sit up and kiss her. Then his hands were on her ass and as she ground herself on him she suddenly felt his finger press inside her ass.

"OH SHIT! RIIICK!" She just needed one little thing and feeling his finger go a little deeper was all she needed and orgasmed yet again.

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Now she was resting on him with him still inside her even though he was now soft. She was giving him little kisses to his lips. While she kissed him she was kicking herself for waiting so damn long. With just a little better timing they could have been lovers long before now.

Her little trip to California could have been filled with sex instead of spending it alone in her room.

"What are you thinking? Not sorry?" Rick asked her.

"No. …I was thinking that after I opened my door and saw you closing yours I should have gone across and knocked or just opened it," Kate said, confessing another of her sins.

"WHAT!? You opened your bedroom door?" Rick let the back of his head hit the ground. "There is something seriously wrong with us." He couldn't believe this. They had screwed up so many times.

Kate took his head in both of her hands and looked at him. "Not any longer."

Rick gazed at her, his eyes locked on hers. "We talk from now on, Kate. No matter how hard it may be. We talk. I can't believe how much time we've lost or could have lost if our plane had really crashed."

Kate felt tears starting. They had actually died in that crash. They had this chance because someone had taken them off of their plane before they had died.

"Don't let me screw this up, Rick. I don't want to screw this up. I don't have access to my therapist any longer." Rick's answer to her plea was to kiss her and she kissed him back with her whole heart.


	9. Chapter 9

**Your Future**

_Chapter 9_

One week later and Rick was thinking they were where Augusta, Georgia used to be. They had stopped for two days to do some hunting and get some rest.

Since staying near fresh water was high on Kate's list she had them following the river on the east side until they found a really safe place to cross it.

One and a half weeks later they were now on the west side of the river and Kate decided to stop for about five days to give everyone a chance to just rest.

Kate got one of her hunting teams to check if they really were in what used to be Savannah, Georgia. To do that she wanted to know if the coast really was that close. She sent three other people with them as well as a three man hunting team and gave them all four of the two man dome tents.

Everyone else got to work on setting up the two large tents, digging trenches and gathering firewood for the four fire pits they were going to need. While the other hunting teams went out hunting for not just meat but anything else they could find.

Since they had several skins by now, each took one to be used as a bag to put smaller things in.

Rick was out hunting with his team so Kate was walking around trying to find out what the group needed that they as a group might be able to provide. As she did she found one woman breastfeeding her baby.

Kate stopped next to her. "How are you doing?"

"She's fine. My nipples are holding up. The only thing that worries me is the vitamins she and all of us are getting." She was thinking her milk might not have everything it should since she was eating mostly meat. Though Kate had made sure women like her were getting everything else that they found to eat.

"Another reason to reach Florida. I'm hoping all of those orange tree orchards still exist or have recovered but I won't be surprised if they're not. It's something we can fix over time. Figure out a way to get in some ocean fishing maybe," Kate offered hopefully.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, Kate. You've at least got all the women behind you," she said.

"…What have you heard?" Kate knelt down next to her so she didn't have to talk as loud.

"Just rumors mostly, I think. Men are used to being in charge. There's talk that once we reach Florida that one of them will take over. Men being in charge with women silently following is how things have been and they don't want to change," she warned.

"Thanks, sounds like some of us refuse to learn from our mistakes," Kate said with an exasperated huff.

"Men! …The women are behind you. Do what you think is best. I think all of us will back you. You've gotten us this far and if we reach Florida and set up a more permanent home, then you should just keep doing it. So long as you want to," she said.

"Thanks for the information. …I need to go check on our shoemakers and clothing makers using skins." Kate got back up.

"Another reason for you to stay in charge," she mentioned before Kate left her.

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Kate wanted to try and put an end to a potential takeover. However she needed people that were on her side to come back. She mostly meant Castle, but she meant the other hunting groups as well. It might be time for another talk with these people before things got out of hand.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate waited until the next day after everyone had eaten, had access to fresh water, and lots of rest. Once again she found a crate and stood on it, blew her whistle twice, and looked to make sure she had everyone's attention.

She'd gone over everything with Rick the night before and yet again this morning. His memory of things she hadn't even considered before was all she had.

"I need your attention. The plan is to stay here for two more days and make sure everyone gets all the rest they need. If we're right we're currently where Savannah, Georgia used to be. We have about three more weeks to reach where Orlando, Florida used to be. Then we can decided as a group where we want to set up a more permanent camp. Probably based on local fresh water, existing conditions, and abundance of food locations.

"My goal has been to get everyone to a safe location where we can live and not be too far north where we would freeze to death during the first winter.

"We're it, people. We're all that is left of the human race as far as we know. What it took to get us here is almost impossible to understand, yet here we are.

"Our next challenge is to not repeat the same old mistakes that killed our planet. Pollution, wars, murder, violence against another person simply because they don't see things the same way you do.

"So start thinking while we make our way to Orlando from here. What kind of system do you want? **Democracy** is a system of government by the whole population of all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

"**Communism**, a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

"**Monarchy**, a political system based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. An individual ruler who functions as the head of state and who achieves his or her position through heredity.

"**Republic**, a form of government in which the country is considered a 'public matter,' not the private concern or property of the rulers. The primary positions of power within a republic are not inherited, but are attained through democracy, oligarchy, or autocracy.

"**Dictatorship**, a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations.

"Those are just the ones I know anything about. I'm told there are close to 38 or more different types. For example, a Republic alone has seven different subtypes.

"Do you want any of these or do you want something totally different? Keep in mind we fought a lot of wars and killed millions of people partly because one government hated another.

"We polluted our planet because we didn't care. It's a big planet and we couldn't possibly pollute all of it. Well, we did or we wouldn't be here now.

"One last thing and then I'll let you go. Anyone remember this saying? 'Money is the root of all evil.'" Kate mis states it on purpose to get her meaning across.

"I have a plan for you to think about. One person is in overall command. This person has three or five advisors. These advisors have the authority to overrule anything who is in command wants to do.

"Each and every person has a vote. Not just for who's in command but also who these advisors are. Every year these advisors can be voted out and someone else voted in. The person in command can be voted out after two years. Or everyone gets voted right back in.

"Think about it. We still have several weeks before we reach that point. However if there's someone who thinks they should be the dictator and force everyone to do what they say, then I'm leaving and anyone that wants to follow can come with me. We'll go live somewhere else.

"Enjoy your day. Ohhh, If someone needs something come see me and together we'll see if we can't solve it." Kate got down off her crate and went over to Castle.

Rick hugged her. "I still think you missed your calling."

"I'll be happy if we don't ever need homicide detectives. If that means I stay in control then I guess I can live with that." She knew she needed something to keep her occupied with or she would die of boredom.

"You think that was enough to get whoever it was to not try something?" Kate hoped it was.

Rick answered her truthfully. "No. Power is intoxicating. Why do you think we had Hitler, Stalin, and all the others? Maybe but my vote is no. Just keep asking around. He can't succeed unless he has help. People willing to follow him. People willing to use violence to enforce his will.

"My bet is that he would start with the people doing all the hunting. They have all the weapons. For some people it isn't hard to go from killing animals to killing people," Rick warned her.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Getting out of Savannah was proving to be a problem without getting wet again. They were only one day out and they were stuck while they waited for two teams to find a better crossing.

What they found was easy enough only to find that two hours later they had to do it again. Then two hours later Kate saw that they had stopped again.

"Trouble?" Kate questioned Rick as he was giving orders to get the two main tents put up. All he did was point to the east.

Kate looked but didn't really see that much. Then she more felt it than saw it. The wind had picked up a little. She groaned, "Don't tell me."

"Hurricane. Without satellites and a way to access them we have no idea how big or where. We're maybe 100 miles inland so we're going to feel it. Fortunately Orlando is inland more than 100 miles so it should be safer," Rick said, watching the sky.

Kate used her whistle twice to try and get everyone's attention. "Pee and poop now while you still can even if you don't need to." Then she took her own advice and was soon back.

Maybe two hours later and the wind picked up, yet it hadn't yet started to rain. Kate asked Rick for something and now she, Rick, and all of her hunters were away from the group.

"I'm going to trust you because we need you," Kate began. "I've been told that someone, unnamed because I don't know who, is looking at making himself leader/dictator," Kate paused and saw pain in everyone's face while a few hung their heads.

"For him to succeed he needs support, people willing to do his dirty work. A dictator only succeeds if he has people willing to do what he orders. Arrest people, torture them, kill them, whatever it takes to instill fear in the people.

"You hold, use, and make all our weapons. If he hasn't approached you already he soon will. Or he'll try and find a way to blackmail you into helping him. Take a baby or a child and order that you do what he demands," Kate said grimly.

"He hasn't and I haven't heard of such a thing," Tucker Hudson stated and his brother Tanner shook his head. No one had approached either of them.

Kate looked at the others and watched them shake their heads.

"I'm not going to ask you to attack or even kill someone to prevent this. We need to learn from our mistakes and killing our own is one of them. If he tries this and too many are behind him Castle and I will be leaving with anyone that wants to follow. We'll find somewhere else to live out our lives.

"If it means the human race dies out then I guess we should have died when our plane crashed," Kate told them.

"We'll be right behind you," Eliza Knight vowed.

Layla Waterson added her voice. "I think all of us here will, Kate. That's not how I at least want to live."

"Don't attack them or him. If you can, try and keep most of the weapons and tools on your person as well as the four dome tents. If we have to leave quickly at least we'll have something," Kate asked them.

"Better to take it all on a hunt with us and then bury it for later," Tanner suggested instead.

"I doubt anything will happen until we've been at our final site for a least a little while so we may just have to lose the dome tents before we get there. I'm going to talk to the medical group next. Though that may have to wait until this storm has passed." Kate looked at the sky.

"We'll be ready, Kate," Tucker said and the rest nodded.

"Just pray it doesn't come to this. I really would like to stop being a homicide detective," Kate added just before everyone headed back to camp.

"You've been silent, Castle." He had said basically nothing during that conversation.

"Just wondering if we can ID this guy without giving ourselves away," Rick said with some concern.

"He would need to be used to being in charge," Kate suggested.

Rick tried to limit just who he could be. "Probably better dressed than even me. He would have only flown in first class and would never have allowed himself to be lumped in with the common people."

"That leaves out the little commuter flights. Leaving just three planes," Kate said thoughtfully.

"We need to talk to the cabin crew of those three planes. The flight crew wouldn't have seen him. So what we need is the head of the cabin crew for each of the three planes," Rick added.

"You think he's married or was married?" Kate questioned him.

"Definitely. It may have been a business trip and he left his wife behind but maybe not his wedding ring. Or his mistress," Rick said and smiled.

"Well dressed, in first class next to a woman half his age and lovely and totally submissive to her master. Shouldn't be too hard to find. There are only just so many of us. We're not in New York City any longer." They didn't have millions of people to do research on.

"We're not in Kansas any longer, Toto." Kate smiled at him.

"I see I'm finally rubbing off on you. And don't call me Toto." Rick smiled back at her.

"Anything you say, Cowardly Lion." Kate grinned wide at him.

"That's better. At least I'm a lion now. Beats being made of straw or cheap tin," Rick countered. "Did you know the tin man was originally played by Buddy Ebsen? His tin look was placed on his body was white face paint coated with aluminum dust. However, Ebsen experienced shortness of breath and cramping that sent him to the hospital. At one point his lungs failed and he was hospitalized for two weeks.

"He was then replaced by a man named Jake Haley. His makeup was reformulated into a paste that was painted on. He in turn missed four days of filming when the makeup caused an eye infection," Rick shared this little tidbit of information.

"How do you hold all this stuff in that head of yours, Castle?" It was basically useless information as far as she was concerned, but not always.

"When are you going to learn, Kate?" Rick questioned her again.

Kate ignored that comment for now. "Let's go see if we can find our guy. Once it starts raining he'll definitely be under the tent. He isn't going to want to get wet."

"He should be complaining about his feet and all this walking rather badly, too. Someone like him isn't going to be used to all this physical activity. I know my feet hurt." His dress shoes just weren't meant for this.

"Rich, soft and privileged, and used to having things done for him." Kate knew the type and what to look for.

"We're going to need to run, Kate. I'm feeling drops." Rick jogged while Kate picked up her speed and ran next to him to get under the tent just as the sky started to open up.

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"You take everyone on the right and I'll take the left. Just ask how everyone is and if they need anything that we might actually have or can get when it stops raining," Kate asked him and walked off.

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"Anything?" Kate hadn't seen anything that fit their theory of who they were looking for.

"Just one. He was wearing a blue Isaia micro stripe wool suit. $4,000 worth of suit. He was sitting on the ground massaging his feet. Next to him were a pair of Caporicci alligator shoes. $3,000 worth of Italian shoes. They didn't look like they were holding up too well. What I didn't see was anyone with him. Doesn't mean there wasn't though. If she's wearing heels she would have lost them long ago," Rick whispered to her.

"I think I remember her. Got her to ask about getting moccasins from the hides we have. How old is he?" Kate queried, her voice low.

"Forties, I'd say about 44 roughly. How old was she?" Rick inquired.

"It's been a while. I'd say mid 20s. She was pretty. I suppose it's possible she might be his daughter if he got someone pregnant early," Kate offered.

"Or a niece," Rick said.

"We need information. I'll see if I can find the girl later. You talk to the guy. If he's money maybe he'll talk to you. If he hasn't noticed that you're with me. Otherwise you won't learn a thing," Kate suggested.

"I'll ask Tucker or Tanner. If he wants either of them on his side he needs to convince them to come over to his side," Rick said but was thinking. "What are the chances your source is feeding you bad information? Maybe it's her husband that wants control. If you spend your time chasing the wrong guy, they get to talk to people without our knowing it." He was unexpectedly worried about that.

"She did say that all the women would be behind me in what I chose to do," Kate admitted.

"My spidey sense is tingling," Rick commented and looked around just to make sure.

"You and your spidey sense," Kate teased.

"Hey, never underestimate my spidey sense. I'll watch our guy when I'm here. You might want to casually talk to the women. If she was lying it'll show up eventually." Rick went to watch it rain with the wind blowing a bit so far. If it was still a hurricane the wind would be picking up soon.

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"We might be overreacting," Kate said as she watched it rain with him.

"When have we ever been wrong about anything?" Rick challenged her. "In the end," he quickly added which had Kate grinning since she could think of lots of times they had the wrong suspect until they got better information.

"There's too much at stake to get this wrong, Castle." It was Kate's only real worry. They would figure it out eventually. Hopefully before any long-lasting damage was done.


	10. Chapter 10

**Your Future**

_Chapter 10_

It had rained all day and well into the night. The tent flaps had been closed, however one of them was open at the moment and while the sun had been up for a while, it was still pretty dark out. Kate watched as a younger man came running in, soaking wet, and closed the tent flap again. She was betting someone had to go and had to pay the price.

It wasn't until she and Castle were betting it was noon that most of the bad weather went away. "Not so terrible for a hurricane," Kate commented.

"Probably stayed out at sea and went up the coastline. It might have even been a small one. The sun should be up for another six to eight hours. We could go hunting," Castle offered and kept looking outside.

"And it's wet and muddy. I think we can wait until tomorrow. We're going to have to stay here and let the tents dry out before we fold them back up again, anyway," Kate noted.

"It's going to be three weeks, maybe four, if we stop again for long. I was so off about how long this was going to take us." He'd been way off and was sorry for that.

"Don't worry about it, Castle. At least we're not lost. …Have you noticed how the air smells so much better now? I don't just mean after a rain storm. I mean all the way to this point," Kate questioned him.

"The planet cleaned itself. It hasn't looked or felt like this in maybe a million years. We really are starting over. I'm still working on how they created a time machine that was capable of all this. In a story sure. In real life? Not so much. To actually be able to make it work was amazing."

"Where are my coffee plants, Castle?" His hands were still empty unless he was hiding them for a surprise.

Rick knew he wasn't going to find any but had hoped things had changed. Kate saw the look on his face. "You haven't found any, have you?" The fact that he was likely trying was sweet, though having some coffee plants would be a lot better.

"Coffee in the States only grew in two places, Hawaii and California. I was hoping something had changed between then and now. …Sorry." Rick hadn't seen a thing so far even though he'd been looking.

"Not your fault, Castle. I'll just take my extended withdrawal out on you," Kate teased him since she was sure her withdrawal started weeks, even months ago, and had been doing all she could to not take it out on everyone else. They were actually over at this point. If she drank coffee now she would just become addicted to it all over again.

"Maybe if I increase your sex input you won't notice," Rick grinned at her

Kate wasn't sure if he was joking or if he was serious. They'd become lovers so she was hoping he was serious. Her withdrawal had been bad but she had lived through it. In fact every morning so far there was something that was just off. She felt different.

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The river behind them, they'd learned, was a snake that twisted and turned all over. There were also little streams that fed into it along this side.

Kate had Castle with her and she was looking for one of these sites just as it reached the river. She had a lot on her mind. She wanted to get clean. She also wanted to get her clothes clean and she wanted to be fucked this time.

Their previous encounter had been in a tent and they'd made love to each other for hours. And yes, Kate had enjoyed it. Right now, however, she didn't want to be made love to. She wanted to be fucked. To be taken and have the feeling of Castle being inside her.

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"Strip, Castle. We and our clothes are getting clean." Kate pulled her top over her head and reached behind her to unhook her bra.

Once everything was off she was on her hands and knees to get her clothes wet and scrub them with what she could find that wouldn't rip it and ruin it. Looking behind her she saw Castle was running a little behind at getting his clothes off.

"Like what you see, Castle?" Kate wiggled her ass at him and willed him to get the message. God knows that they were ungodly good at subtext but she was hoping they could get past that.

Kate stopped doing everything when she felt Castle's hands on her hips. She looked back just in time to see his erection rub against her core lips.

A simple moan had him doing it even more. She wasn't wet enough for him yet and somehow he must have known that because his fingers were the next thing she felt.

Minutes later she was more than ready. "Stop teasing and fuck me, Castle." She no sooner had said it when his entire cock was buried deep inside her which had her crying out.

A whole lot of whimpering and moaning later and she was biting her bottom lip to keep from screaming as her orgasm overtook her.

Once she calmed down she spun around and saw Castle's cock getting smaller and smaller. That just wouldn't do so she took him in her mouth to get him hard so he could fuck her again. She also tasted herself on him.

While she did want to taste his climax she needed him inside her yet again so she stopped when she had him hard. Then she turned back around and wiggled her ass at him until like last time, he was buried deep inside her in one swift stroke.

Yes, it stretched her a bit because she wasn't used to him yet, but it was what she wanted. It soon felt so good that she was pushing against him with every stroke into her.

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Their clothes were wet and couldn't be put on just yet. So they were naked, lying on the ground next to each other.

"We're going to need to figure out how to build homes eventually. I'm tired of possibly giving someone a free show and I really need to scream. I'm going to either bite my lower lip off or my tongue one of these times," Kate told him.

"I still can't believe I left to go the Hamptons with Gina that one time. I am so incredibly stupid." Rick pulled her in a little closer. He still couldn't believe he had been that stupid.

"I was trying so hard to ignore my walls and ask if I could come with you. Then Gina showed up. I panicked and didn't say what I wanted to. Especially after she said you two were back together again. I didn't call because I was hurt. It wasn't your fault but I was still hurt." Kate shared a little more.

"I am so sorry, Kate. They say the third time's the charm and I only asked you twice. Then Gina called and we got to talking. The next thing I knew she was coming with me. I'm so very sorry," Rick said again.

"Just don't do it again." Kate smiled at him since she knew he couldn't. At least with Gina since she was long since dead.

"That will _not_ be a problem. There's only you. Too bad I didn't bring your ring with me." He could offer it to her now.

"My what!?" Kate got up on her knees and looked down at him.

"I, ah, may have bought you an engagement ring during one of my trips into the city. Then Doctor Motorcycle Boy showed up and I stuffed it deep in the drawer of my desk," Rick admitted, hoping that she wasn't angry at him. He'd gotten pretty far ahead of himself. It was just that at the time he couldn't resist.

"You bought me a ring?" Kate covered her mouth with her hands and felt tears starting. He'd been thinking of proposing. Even after all she'd done to him. Then she'd started dating Josh. She had been so incredibly stupid and her stupidity was really starting to add up.

"It was this spur of the moment thing. I was dreaming a future of what could be if I could just reach you. Then you started dating–" Kate interrupted him.

"Josh. I started dating fucking Josh," Kate moaned. She didn't want to think that she had done this but she had. Her walls and her fears had done this to them. "I'm so very sorry, Castle. I screwed it all up. I did this."

Rick sat up to take her in his arms and hold her. "Like you've said, we've both made mistakes, Kate."

Kate was shaking her head. She had tried when Castle had left with Gina but hadn't tried hard enough. Then she let herself get angry because he hadn't called and didn't blame herself that she hadn't called him. Her walls were back up again.

Now though, her walls were pretty much gone. She knew if she wanted to reach what she truly wanted in life she needed to take one last step. It was scary to her in the extreme.

Kate opened her mouth to ask him yet nothing came out. She tried to clear her throat so she could get the words out. "Ask me, Castle… Rick, I want you to ask me." She knew what her answer would be if she could just get him to trust her one final time and ask her.

"Ask you?" At first Rick wasn't following what she meant. Then it hit him. "You mean like ask you to marry me? That kind of ask you?" Rick really didn't trust what he was asking or what she was asking him to ask her.

Kate pulled back from him and wiped away her tears. Was he really going to ask her or had she done far too much damage? All Kate could do was hold her hands over her mouth and nod. She was looking into his eyes and willed that she hadn't destroyed them totally.

"I'll make you a ring. I'll find a ring. I'll find someone to teach me how to make a ring," he babbled. "You would actually marry me? Kate Beckett wants to marry me?" Maybe he had the wrong Kate Beckett somehow. She had gotten switched with someone else between their plane crashing and now.

Kate was still crying and scared speechless but she nodded. Then she watched Rick gently take her hands from her mouth and move closer so he could kiss her.

Kate took that as his asking her to marry him and she cried while she kissed him. It was the best she could do while she kissed him back.

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They still needed to wait for their clothes to dry so they were lying there in each others arms. Kate didn't feel her walls any longer. She felt different, free, and she liked it.

"So what do we do, next Mrs. Castle?" Did they need to figure how and where to try and officially get married? There really wasn't any government to authorize their marriage or anyone that was legally allowed to marry them. Everyone was dead.

"Anything we want, Mr. Beckett." Kate grinned while she hid her face against his body.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be?" Rick teased back. While he hadn't intended anything from it one of his hands brushed her ribs on her side and instantly he knew that Kate was ticklish.

Kate was up on her knees in a flash. "Castle, no." She meant it, too. She was not going to put up with being tickled especially since she was terribly ticklish. She watched him slowly sit up with that grin on his face that said she was in trouble. "Castle, I'll shoot you."

Rick laughed. "You don't have a gun anymore so you can't shoot me." And he kept grinning.

Now Kate was standing, her back to the slow moving river they'd come down here to get clean in. "I can still kick your ass, Castle." It had only been a couple of months since she'd worked out so she could still beat him.

"Only if you can do it while laughing your ass off…Mrs. Castle." Rick was now standing as well. When he reached out and wiggled his fingers at her she squealed and ran into the water to get away from those very same hands that he proved could do so much to her.

Kate didn't know how but suddenly she was in his arms and being spun to face him. "Rick, don't." She still didn't want to be tickled.

"You'll still marry me?" Rick asked her.

"I'm still thinking about it." She hadn't actually said yes, yet. Not that he had actually gotten down on one knee and asked her.

Suddenly both of his hands were on her sides just above her hip bone. "You'll marry me? …I want you to marry me. I need you to marry me, Kate." Rick didn't move his fingers at all.

"Yes." There, she'd actually said it after being asked. Next he began kissing her so she kissed him back. "If you want to put those fingers to good use you could–" Rick interrupted her.

"Give you another orgasm," Rick smiled wide.

"No, jackass." Kate rolled her eyes. "You can used them to scrub me clean. Maybe if you're a good boy I'll let you fuck me again."

"I think you mean Kate Beckett wants to be fucked by a bad boy." Rick pressed his now semi-erect cock against her.

"Just wash me first, Castle, then we can discuss who's going to fuck me," Kate purred.

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In the end Kate didn't care if it was good boy Rick or bad boy Rick. She still got fucked again and held his hand after getting dressed all the way back to their temporary campsite.

Thankfully life had gone on without either of them. There just wasn't that much to do. No sporting equipment of any kind. No electricity meant no games or information on the Internet that was long since gone. Kids usually found a way to play no matter how much or how little they had. It was the teenagers and the adults that Kate was worried about.

"How are you with making games out of nothing?" Kate questioned Castle as they watched people just standing and talking or sitting on the ground doing nothing.

"Some are easier than you think. The first one that comes to mind is a large scale checker board. We just need to agree on what's red and what's black for the pieces. Maybe someone knows how to whittle and we can use the same board for chess pieces. Maybe make more than one board. After that I just need to think," Rick said.

"Good, you just keep thinking and we can get started on them when we finally stop for good. Just so long as where we're going isn't a swamp." That was what she remembered of Florida.

"That might be a challenge for some locations, but not all of Florida is a swamp. Just like not all of Arizona is a desert. We'll find a spot, Mrs. Castle." Rick went back to that.

"We'll talk, Mr. Beckett," Kate responded and smiled at him.

Kate was finding that it felt really good to not have walls any longer. Or at least all of the really big ones that kept people out. Since she really wanted Castle in and not out.

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They tried to stay away from the coast so that they could more easily have access to fresh water. What the hunting parties were finding mostly now was deer, wild hog, and turkey. Not so much gators yet, so that might be more south of where they were now.

Two weeks in and they'd already stopped for a longer stay to rest, eat and drink, and get clean. They were guessing about two more weeks just to reach where they would start looking for a more permanent place to actually start to live and not just keep walking.

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They had reached a point where it was time to decide where they wanted to go and stay there. Kate got back up on her crate and blew out two loud whistles. "It's time to decide just what we want to do. Where Orlando used to be is about three days south of here. However, Castle has an idea and I personally rather like it but I'm going to let him explain it to you." Kate jumped down off her crate. "You're up, Castle."

Rick stepped on her crate and realized it wasn't as easy as she made it look. "Okay, we're on the west side of what was St. Johns River. It's the single largest fresh water river in Florida. It's connected to Lake George. Perfect for fresh water fishing and recreation. Last I knew on either side are forests, meaning lots of places for wildlife and hunting. Coastal fishing is about a day east then a day to get back. There really isn't anything in Orlando itself. Though there are or were several small lakes and ponds all over the place.

"The trick is just where do we want to set up camp and live. Native Americans had at one time settled in this area so if it worked once it can work again.

"What we need to decide is do we want to be on the west side of Lake George or the east side? The largest forest will be on the west side. However, the easiest access to the coast means being on the east side. There will still be forests for hunting, just smaller, and we'll over hunt that area quickly.

"The larger forest will be dotted with smaller lakes and ponds. Me personally, I would like to be on the south end of Lake George on the east side of the St. Johns river. Access to forests, lake, and the coast. Far enough in from hurricanes unless we get hit directly and then it won't matter where we are. Nice and warm and a good location." Rick was done and stepped down off the crate.

Kate stepped back up. "We'll stay here for two days. Get in some hunting, clean, and rest up for our last move. I could just say this is where we're going to go and you'll just have to live with it. However, I'm no dictator. I've just been trying to get us here. What we do now that we're a couple of days away is up to all of you.

"So think about, talk about. Then we'll vote on Castle's location or come up with a different one and vote on it. Take your time and be ready to decide what our future is." Kate stepped down, went over to Castle, and wondered what they would decide.


	11. Chapter 11

**Your Future**

_Chapter 11_

Three weeks later and they were working their way through a forest while walking on the edge of Lake George. They had already seen that parts of the St. Johns River were really wide and they stood no chance of crossing it.

The vote had gone initially in Rick's favor. Last night's vote, after seeing the width of the river, had changed. They would find a place on the banks of the lake large enough for their tents and call it good for now. If after looking around some more they found a better site, they would consider moving one last time.

So it was that they were clawing their way through some dense trees when suddenly they just vanished and everything turned to sand. Kate had them stop here and let one of their hunter teams, that in this case included Rick, scout ahead.

It gave Kate the opportunity to talk to all the women she hadn't yet had a chance to talk with. Up to these few she heard the same thing over and over again. A theory that someone wanted to assume over all control once they reached their final destination. None of them seemed to know just who they were talking about.

It didn't give Kate much to work with and Castle hadn't learned much yet either, but so far it was all the same. Someone was talking. Yet which woman had started it? Just to be safe she hadn't talked to who she thought might be either the rich man's mistress or niece so as not to give him any information.

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Rick and the others were back quickly. They didn't have 500 plus people to slow them down. "You three are wet." It looked like all three had gone swimming.

"We crossed three streams until we reached what we think is the continuation of the St. Johns River and it's just as wide and strong on the south end as the north," Rick explained.

"We did, however, find an even better spot to make camp, we think. It's just a little south of here. There's an inlet from the lake. Just the other side there's a large open space. Perfect for us to use," Jake told her.

"It's great. Easy access to fresh water. Maybe we can build crude boats and go fishing somehow. Lots of wood and lots of places to go hunting. If we really have to we can move again," Rick said, his excitement plain to see.

Kate had relied on this group to get them this far and now they just had to travel a little farther. "Get them moving. You're out in front since you know where we're going. When we arrive you three need to relax and go get clean and dry." Kate found herself way in the back yet again.

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Their last meal was two days ago and it would be dark in a few short hours as they began to set everything up.

Kate found her army guy and had him scout for good locations for both men and women. He simply needed to wait for when the only two shovels they had were free to be used.

Once the two main tents were up and the trenches dug to divert rainwater, Kate located a crate and stood on it. Two loud whistles later and she had everyone's attention.

"This is home now. Based on the past we're going to need four fire pits and lots of firewood. Set up the four dome tents for some privacy. Get some rest, get clean. If your shoes have holes in them or are practically destroyed, ask around. I know a few who are walking in what you might call moccasins, so try it. Better than bare feet.

"If there's something you need come see me and we'll try and solve it. Just don't expect much in clothing yet. We have a number of skins but our ability to use them is a bit limited at the moment.

"Get some rest, it was a long walk and I'm sorry about that. As best we can tell it's been about three months. If, for example, it was June when we started that would make it close to September now. Fall will be starting soon and the temperatures up north will already be dropping. In two or three months and our nights would be maybe 9 degrees.

"Around here it should make it to the low 40s or upper 30s. It will be cold but we won't freeze to death if we're careful. We can talk about what happens next later. Let's just get some rest and get set up so we can live here. Come see me if you have questions." Kate was done and looked around for what to do next. She decided on a tree that looked out onto the lake and sat down with her back to it.

Kate wasn't surprised to find Castle sitting down next to her which had her scooting over a little so she could share her tree with him. Rick pointed out the obvious. "We made it."

"Most of us." Kate's heart still ached for the ones who hadn't.

"It wasn't your fault, Kate. If they hadn't drowned themselves that time they would have found another way. Another river, perhaps. Unless you mean those stupid kids we left behind. They killed themselves, they just don't know it yet." Rick put an arm around her.

"I'm living it and I'm still not sure I believe it," Rick said then had a thought. "Our plane was crashing, right. They took us and others off our planes before we all died and held us in a room. What if there was another room? Were we the only room? Were we the second or even third room?" He offered another option. "We ended up here and they ended up somewhere else."

"You're sure you're not a science fiction writer? Maybe you should start," Kate smiled. "At any rate it doesn't matter. It took us three months to get this far. Even if there is another group we'll never reach them and never know it. Even California is too far away for us to reach. It's just us." Kate didn't see them ever coming across anyone else even if there was someone else somewhere.

"Perhaps, but never say never," Rick said.

"I don't think your guy in the CIA can help us this time and leave the little green men from Mars out of this." Kate wasn't buying it.

"Actually they're little gray guys with big black –" Kate interrupted him.

"Let it rest, Castle. If there is another group it means that they'll grow up thinking differently than we do. East versus West all over again. I'd rather die of old age thinking we had changed our ways and had stopped trying to kill each other. So please, Castle." She was ready to not see another dead body because someone had murdered someone else.

"Deal." Rick closed his mouth and just held Kate until it started to get really dark.

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Kate woke up to find Rick gone and instantly missed him. She hated the idea that she was clingy, it was just that she felt more comfortable having him around.

A quick trip to their new latrines for her to pee and she had noticed there was what looked like a construction project underway. Unsurprisingly she saw Rick was involved along with a few of her hunting groups.

"What's going on?" Kate saw 6 good sized poles already up and they all joined at the top with a few more on the ground. "Castle?" No one had answered her question.

"We're building us a home to live in," Rick explained.

"A… what?" Kate looked around and realized that the location was away from the main tents and not anywhere near the four dome tents. It was actually more in the woods close to where the lake and the river met.

"A home. We have lots of skins now and it's more than enough to build a good-sized teepee. Eighteen feet around and just over 13 feet tall. We still need to gather more poles since we're short a few. We can finish after we get back from our hunting trip. This is just the start," Rick beamed, proud of what they were doing.

"A home." Kate did like the idea of getting some alone time with Castle. It was just the word home had a different meaning then just spending some alone time with him. Okay, he had proposed and she had said yes. It was just this was moving pretty fast.

"We'll be back." Rick stepped over to her and gave her a quick kiss. He picked up his bow and arrows and left with Julie and Jake.

"A teepee." Kate stepped into the middle and looked around. "Eighteen feet." The poles were pretty long but not really all that straight though it looked like that they had been skinned already. The ones on the ground, however, didn't look as good.

Eighteen feet looked like a nice size to her. She did find that she couldn't stand up straight except in about a ten foot area out of the eighteen based on where the poles were now.

The longer she stood in it the more she started to like it. Just how much space did they really need? Smaller might be too small yet what would bigger get them? They'd probably need a whole new set of poles, she was betting.

How had they accomplished so much so fast this morning?

Still Kate left it and went into the compound to see how see how everyone was doing. Naturally the teepee had been spotted. "What's going on over there?" someone asked her.

"I was told it's a teepee. We might all be living in one some day. Which reminds me of something." Kate went looking for a crate to stand on and let out two loud whistles.

"This is Florida, lots of sunshine down here all year long. I'll leave it to you to decide but we don't have any sunscreen or anything for sunburns. So if you burn easy it might be best to try and limit just how much sun you expose yourself to during the day. One day we may all have deep tans but that day isn't today. So be careful is all I'm asking. We have groups out hunting so there should be something to eat later today once it's cooked. Keep gathering firewood. That's all." Kate got down off her crate, looked around, and went out into the forest to gather firewood.

While she was out gathering firewood she ran across some coconuts so she picked up two of them. Then she went looking for something to cut them open with and one of their pans.

Now she was sitting on the ground close to a fire that was mostly just embers since they didn't need a fire just yet and started hacking away without injuring herself in the process.

Once she had a hole she drained out the water into her pot then worked at getting to the coconut meat itself. She scooped out some of that and added it to the water. Then she put it on the fire and kept looking.

Once most of the water was gone she pounded and stirred then put it back on the fire and waited.

Now that she had it boiling she took it off and let it sit there. Naturally one of the women stopped. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make coconut cream. I'm tired of kissing Castle with his three month old beard. We've got scissors and a knife the right size. All I need to do is cut off some of his beard, make sure the knife is nice and sharp, apply the cream to his beard and shave it off. …Hopefully." She'd had enough of his beard and it had to go.

"If that works you need to tell the rest of us. I hate beards," the redhead told Kate.

"I'll be happy to share if this works." Kate was waiting for it to cool so she could whip it up into a cream.

Between using a stone to try and sharpen a knife she had found that was the right size she was stirring her concoction to turn it into a cream.

Kate heard excitement and got up to see two of the three hunting groups returning with meat. One had a deer while the other had three turkeys. "Ooo, turkey." Kate was looking forward to that.

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"What are we doing out here?" Rick asked her since they were out by the St. Johns River.

"Take your shoes and socks off, then wade out to that rock and sit on it." The rock was at least dry. Bewildered, he did as he was told and sat down. Then he watched her pull out a knife even though he had seen the bucket or pail or whatever it was with her.

"Kate?" They were supposed to bleed the deer, not him.

"Relax, Castle. I'm tired of your beard so I'm going to shave you. I've spent all afternoon making a cream to use and sharpening a blade I found. Now hold still." Kate put her knife away and got out the scissors.

Rick pulled his head away a little. "I'm done kissing you with that beard, Castle, so hold still." Kate held his head with one hand and began cutting with the other until she had it short enough.

"I think this is supposed to be hot but that's too difficult so we're going to do it cold," Kate informed him and scooped out her cream that was just a bit runny but not too bad.

Kate smiled as she looked at his white cheeks, chin, and throat. "Now you really need to hold still, Castle. I don't want to cut you."

"You're sure this is necessary?" Rick kind of liked his beard even if it did need to be trimmed since he was beginning to look more like that bear guy, Grizzly Adams.

"Yes! Now shut up and let me work." Kate carefully took her first swipe off his face and bent down to wash it away in the river then kept going.

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She had only nicked him twice and had said sorry each time, however, she was done and was now using river water to try and clean up his face.

"There, what do you think? Pretty enough to kiss." Kate was proud of herself. She didn't mind a little 5 o'clock shadow or even two or three day shadow but three months was way too much.

Rick ran his hands over his face. "Not bad." It wasn't perfect like what he used to be able to get with one of those heated $25 Gillette razors, but it was good. "Not bad at all." He kept running his hand over his face.

"Where's my kiss?" Rick grinned at her. He'd suffered through having her shave him and now he was looking for his reward.

Kate simply smiled and leaned down to kiss him. She had considered giving him a quick kiss, however, it quickly morphed into a much more passionate kiss.

Kate smiled into his lips. "Definitely better."

"So how did you make that stuff?" Rick knew they didn't have any which was why he and all the other men now had big beards. Even Kate had a smattering of hair in her armpits and on her legs now.

"I found some coconuts and used the water and coconut meat. Then I boiled it down, stirred it and let it cool, and whipped it into a cream. It was the best I could come up with."

Then Rick suddenly smiled. Kate knew that look. It was a look that meant trouble, probably for her. "Does this mean I get to shave your legs?"

"In your dreams." There was no way in hell she was letting him shave her legs even if they did need to be shaved.

"We're engaged, Kate, my dreams do come true."

Okay maybe he had her there. "The answer is still no."

"How about your mustache? I can shave that off." Rick grinned wide which only got wider when Kate quickly ran her finger over her upper lip.

"I do not have a mustache and even if I did the answer is still no. Now let your feet get dry and meet me in the compound. I'm dying to have turkey for a change." Kate began to walk back to camp and paused. "Did you find any orange trees while you were out?" She was ready for those, too.

"Several, but they were all green and not ripe yet. Navel oranges are ripe from November to April. We're not there yet." Rick tells her.

"Oh, well. We're going to need to look for something besides meat soon. We need the vitamins. Just keep your eyes open," Kate asked him and left him behind. However, she only made it two steps. "What's native around here?" Kate inquired since somehow she knew he'd know.

"Blackberries, kumquats, summer grapes, figs, avocados, bananas, coconuts, jackfruit, and maybe apples. Some of it's dependent on just where you are in Florida," Rick replied as he sat down to wait for his bare feet to dry.

"So no coffee beans. Just keep your eyes open Castle. We need all we can find. …And we still need to talk about this teepee idea of yours." This time she did leave him.

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The second Rick was back he was besieged with questions about how he'd managed to shave his beard off.

"Kate did it, ask her." Yes, he had heard how she had created the cream but it was her idea so she could explain. Besides he had a teepee to hopefully put up before it got dark.

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Kate sat down next to Rick, took her first bite of turkey, and moaned. "Please don't make sounds like that in public, Kate." She should only be moaning like that in private.

"Afraid you'll cream your shorts, Castle?" Kate took another bite of her turkey and moaned on purpose just to tease him.

"We're making love tonight if you keep that up," Rick told her.

"Thinking you're going to get lucky tonight, do you?" Kate grinned at him since now that he had put it in her head she was more than willing to make love to him tonight.

Rick leaned close to her and whispered, "We finished the teepee." Then he leaned away from her and took a bite of his turkey.

That had Kate sitting up straighter. She hadn't even thought to look. "Eat faster, Castle. I'm fucking your brains out tonight." She wanted so much sex that she couldn't even walk tomorrow. That teepee might be far enough away that she could scream. At least a little.


	12. Chapter 12

**Your Future**

_Chapter 12_

_It is now one month later_

Kate rolled over as she woke up and didn't find Castle in their teepee. It hadn't happened very often and in each case she was learning that she didn't much care for it.

They had three teepees up now. Each of them had a trench around them to divert rain water since the floor in each of them was basically whatever ground they were built on. They still had a long ways to go.

Kate picked up her panties and put them on, wishing she had at least another pair. Thanks to her period they were getting more stained each time. Thankfully her blue jeans weren't spotted very badly even if they were. It was turning out that cleaning out blood when you had next to nothing was impossible.

Thanks to Castle, his fingers, and his memory he had dragged her out into the St. Johns River downstream a little farther and made sure she had an orgasm as she had her period in the river yet again.

She knew one of these times being in the river wasn't going to happen. However, for now it was working.

Right now, once dressed, she went to the inlet to wash her face and get her by now really long hair wet to try and clean it a little, then squeeze it dry.

Today she knew was going to be a big day. A really big day. That might be why Castle was up early, not that she was going to let him go. She just didn't think he was up to it. He was a city boy and this didn't have anything to do with being in a city. Though everything they did now had nothing to do with a city.

A quick drink and she was at one of the deer that was still on its pole under coals and sliced off a piece for breakfast and went looking.

Sure enough she found all of them getting ready. "You're sure you can do this?" Kate asked yet again.

"We have a plan so it should work. Just make sure you're ready for us," Jake told her.

"We'll be ready." Kate was going to use almost everyone to be ready for when they got back. "You've got weapons, all four dome tents and everyone has good enough shoes for this?" It was the only requirements Kate had. "Oh, and all the handmade rope we have so far."

Kate saw who had any of those hold them out to show her. "Good luck, this is going to mean a lot to us." Kate had big plans for after this worked.

"Let's go people." Jake led them all out. It was a three man hunting group to feed them while they were gone and to help with the overall mission. Behind these three were twenty people that were willing, fit enough, and had the shoes for this.

"Kate?" Rick tried one last time.

"No, Castle. We've already talked about this. You don't have the shoes, you don't have the skill, and we need you here. We have a fence to build and not long to build it along with other things to do." Kate shut Castle down before he got going.

"Help me gather everyone together, we need to get started." They each started with the people around them until Kate finally got on a crate and blew her whistle using two fingers twice to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, we have a lot to do. "First, oranges are starting to ripen so I need a team take some skins, use them as sacks, and begin harvesting.

"Second, when the team that just left here gets back we're going to need an enclosure, a corral of sorts to hold the horses that they'll be coming back with. For that we need three teams. One to cut down the trees, another team to debark those trees, and another team making more rope.

The plan is to use the downed trees and tie them to trees in the designated area and create a holding area by tying them to trees. Basically the same poles we have been using to make tepees with.

"The other two hunting teams will go out hunting for more meat. In addition to the orange team we need a kumquat team.

"Next we need a team to start harvesting the hemp plants that have been found. Hannah says she knows how to spin and weave just about anything thanks to her time in an historical recreation group. Her focus was on life in the middle ages. Basically she can make a loom to make fabric with and needles from bones. She just needs the plants. Since we don't happen to have sheep, or alpacas, or many other animals we're going to provide her with all the hemp that we can. We need clothes and she's willing to teach others how to do it.

"After the corral for the horses is complete we're going to build another one for the cattle that have also been spotted. I don't know about you people but I would almost kill for a nice big juicy steak and we need milk for the kids.

"Sooo, cut down trees, debark said trees, make rope. Lots and lots of rope. Pick oranges and kumquats while we can and start harvesting hemp. Be sure and gather the seeds. Long term were going to need whole fields of hemp to make clothes for all of us. And don't forget firewood to cook what the hunting crews come back with.

"Let's get started, people. We need everyone to be doing something this time. If we're right it's November already. Let's get to work!" Kate clapped her hands and stepped next to Castle.

"We really need those horses. We get those and we can go farther out and find other things. Things we really need badly." Kate told him what he already knew.

"I'll get started on the wood we need. What are you going to be doing?" Rick asked her.

"At first making sure everyone's doing something. We have so much that needs to get done and fast. Then learn how to make rope. I have a feeling we're going to need miles of the stuff." Kate just knew her hands were going to be raw soon. Or at least cramped fingers.

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Kate needed a break and headed to the women's latrine to pee and found the place a little busy. She turned her back until someone left.

"How are we doing?" the woman leaving asks her.

"I have no idea. I've been sitting on my stump braiding rope all morning. I'm going to end up with cramps before the end of the day." Kate flexed her fingers.

"As for the horses, three days at the very least. Likely longer. We may need that time to be ready for them.

"How are you doing?" Kate asked politely.

"We're going to need ladders to reach some of the oranges, so think about that. However, I can attest to the fact that they are tasty," she replied.

"Castle is putting fence poles together. I can ask him about a simple ladder when I find him. Just gather what you can. We need those vitamins. And keep your eyes open for anything else we can pick. We need a lot." Kate took her place on the felled tree where she peed into the pit then went to find Castle so he could make them a ladder. Privacy was at a premium in their lives.

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It was just one wild hog and two turkeys today but it was enough. Thankfully today was not a rain day. They'd already had three of those over the last month. None of them really lasted all that long. While sleeping 500 plus people in two 10' x 30' tents was a real challenge. It was easier to have them standing there like vertical sardines while it rained.

Kate had some turkey, an orange, and even a kumquat to eat as she sat down next to Castle who was sucking on his orange and moaning. Since she hadn't had one in a long time she started with her orange. Just one bite had her moaning and ripping it open even more and stuffing her face.

"How is the fence coming?" Kate swirled her tongue around her mouth to get all the flavor.

"About one third so far. I think their ladder is going to have to wait. We're using up the rope really fast," Rick warned her.

"I'll try and find more people for rope making tomorrow. …You think this is going to work?" Kate wanted his opinion again now that they'd started.

"One or more of us will need to break each horse to ride it. Letting us ride isn't natural for it. …No saddle, no bit, and bridle. Nothing to ride the horse with. Even if we had a saddle we don't have any blankets for its back. Bareback riding for us," Rick said and took a bite of his turkey leg he had managed to get.

"We really are going to be Native Americans soon." Kate shook her head.

"We're going to need to start growing our own food soon. We're going to run out of pigs, turkeys, and anything else in this area soon. Start going farther and farther out," Rick warned her.

Kate bit into her piece of piece even if Castle had just made her job that much harder and she was losing her appetite. "How are your canoe building skills and fishing pole skills? We're going to need to add fish soon." They still had one item on the menu that they hadn't even tried yet.

"Never even done research on one. I did some research on how to get a boat with a motor started when it doesn't want to. But build a canoe?" Rick shook his head. "I'm guessing a lot of chopping and maybe some burning.

"It would likely be best to build one using one of those side skids or whatever they're called. I'm guessing that they are more stable than a simple canoe."

"Great, more rope." Not what she needed to hear. She decided to open her kumquat and see what it tasted like before she went back for more turkey and another orange.

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Kate was working on her third orange as she watched everyone else eating and talking in small groups. Thankfully, to her way of thinking, they weren't the same groups she had seen long ago. They were a little different which was good.

"You look like you're thinking a little too hard, Kate," Rick mentioned since she wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to her orange.

"Just thinking about the future. There are only just so many of us and that number isn't going to change soon. To grow something in a field means we need a field somewhere. To do that means cutting down a lot of trees and I'm no farmer. Even worse, no one here is either." Kate now knew what each and every person here was capable of doing. What they could contribute to the group.

She had people that had ridden horses before but hadn't broken them to be ridden. No one knew much about keeping and butchering cows, either. They were soon going to be in uncharted territory for this group.

Then Kate saw someone headed their way and he had something in his arms and was carrying it carefully. "OH NO!" Her mind went straight to a baby being hurt or worse…dead.

"IT'S A CHICKEN!" Rick knew what he was carrying. Kate and Rick scrambled to their feet and went to him.

"There were a few more but they're hard to catch," he told them.

Kate tried to pet it. "What do we do with it? We don't have a chicken coop. If we don't have a place for it to lay eggs it'll just run away." She saw cooked chicken, chicken eggs for breakfast. Chicken eggs for a lot of things.

"Clip their wings so they can't fly away. Makes them easier to catch again." Rick offers.

"Put it in our teepee. We can build a coop in the morning to put it and others in. We can just tie the horses in place if we're not ready," Rick offered.

Kate was conflicted. She liked their teepee. It meant sex every night and she was now seriously addicted to having sex with him. She was falling further and further in love with him.

"You know where our teepee is?" Kate made her choice and saw him nod. "Put it inside and close the flap for now. If it gets out we'll just chase it and the others down after we have an enclosure to put them in. Get Castle to show you how to clip its wings first."

"Chicken eggs." Rick was smiling since he knew chicken eggs were good for a lot of things.

Kate watched him walk away, headed for their teepee. "Now where do we sleep?" Kate asked him when he got back.

"With a chicken?" Rick offered and Kate glared at him. He might have suggested it but he hadn't ordered it. "Outside it is, then. Between the teepee and the lake maybe?" They were going to have to look to see where was best.

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Breakfast was deer for Kate while she watched Rick get to work. What they needed was a coop for the chickens to lay eggs in. They were going to be free range chickens since they didn't have any chicken feed to feed them.

Kate went back to work on making more rope since they were using it up fast and building a chicken coop was requiring rope to hold it all together with.

It was lunch or just about and while Kate didn't need to pee she did need to do something else which led her to the women's pit to do their business.

Once she was back she found Castle waiting for her and he was all smiles. Thanks to sleeping outside last night they hadn't made love to each other and Kate was maybe a little cranky even if it wasn't her period.

"I know I'm going to hate myself, but why are you grinning, Castle? We're so far behind in making rope I may have to have everyone switch to making rope soon." Her fingers were tired and ached terribly.

"This way." Except Rick used a finger to get her to follow him. She groaned but she followed him for a change.

What he took her to was this cage about the size of a love seat that was on stilts and had a ramp up to an opening.

"Chicken coop. If it needs to be bigger we open the opposite end and add one just like this one." Rick was proud of it.

Kate walked around it and looked it over. The tree limbs it was made of allowed her to look inside since none of them were straight. Kate saw how the chickens got in. "How do we get the eggs out?" She saw a flaw in this design.

Then she saw him pull out some pegs and he lifted one entire side off so she could see the interior. Inside she saw a perch for chickens to sit on and a place for a number of chickens to sit and lay eggs. Then she watched him put it back in place.

"Reach the eggs and even clean it to put new bedding in." Rick was all smiles since he liked it. "I don't know how we're going to keep them dry when inside yet, unless we put a skin over it, but we need those to make more teepees." Everyone wanted a teepee so they would have a place to call home.

Kate thought about it and had an idea. "Pig skin. One of our old pig skins. Not really right for a teepee so use one of those," Kate suggested and Rick smiled. "Put that skin on top, secure it, then get that chicken out of our teepee. I'm not sleeping outside again when I don't have to." Kate stepped up to him and kissed him.

"Nice work, Castle. Now we just need to decide what cookware we have to cook with to put the eggs to use. However maybe what we really need is a lot of chicks to grow up into chickens instead of eggs for now." Kate kissed him again.

She left him to finish and put that chicken in it and went back to making rope.

An hour later and she was up looking for more people who weren't doing anything and put them to work making rope or gathering what they needed to make rope with. Plus lots of people to gather or rip wood to generate the twin they needed to make rope with.

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Kate came across someone that was using a bone to scrape one of their newer skins. She had never seen it done before so she just watched for a minute. "A rib?" Granted it was about all they had so wasn't surprised.

"Burnished rib bones actually work best. You use them to close the pores of leather and work oil into the hide to make it waterproof. The trick is using the right oil, which we don't have so I'm using a fat based oil. It seems to be working.

"I'm a little behind but just keep hunting and skinning and I'll keep getting them ready," he said.

Kate liked what he was doing. He was one of the older men they still had and his English, while good, was heavily accented. Maybe one day they could start a school and he could be a language teacher.

"I've got a teenager who can't seem to find something to do." Kate had found she wouldn't cut trees, debark those trees, and couldn't hunt. She was good with computers but that was something they didn't have and might not ever have.

"Send her over. It takes repetition, not so much muscle. The oils aren't great for your hands since it's an oil and not a cream," Kate was warned.

Kate had an idea. "Gloves can solve that. Maybe pig skin gloves. Thanks, I'll send her your way after I have gloves made for her." Kate was happy. Maybe this would speed up the building of teepees.

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Kate was soon back to making rope and was now gratified that she and the others now had help. More people were now also gathering the materials they needed to make the rope.

While she was working she saw two chickens being carried to their new home. They needed a lot more chickens to serve 500 plus people. But it was at least a start.

Finding dinner was ready got her and everyone else to stop for the day. While she had everyone in basically the same area she found a crate and stood on and blew her now recognized whistle.

"We're doing great. I found a volunteer to help Domingo with the skins. So everyone that wants a teepee to live in should all thank Sandi for her agreeing to help. It means we can speed up the construction of teepees." Kate was hoping some encouragement would keep her working.

"Horses are at best two days out. We have the start of a chicken coop with a few chickens. Please don't kill them and cook them. We need them to lay eggs and hatch chicks so we can build even more chicken coops until we have enough chickens to add to our diet. Along with eventually lots and lots of eggs.

"If you're having clothing problems talk to Domingo he should be able to tell you how many skins we have then go talk to Hannah and ask her to make something for you. That includes shoes.

"Just keep in mind those clothes and shoes are also the skins we need for teepees. I haven't talked to the hunters yet but I'm betting they are going to have to start hunting farther and farther out soon.

"Having horses will help with that. Also I need a team that thinks they can take a crack at building a canoe and paddles. Maybe one with an outrigger to make it more stable. The bigger we can make them maybe we can some day do some ocean fishing. If we can add fish to our diet it will take some of the stress of our hunting groups. Remember one of our three groups is gone to help with obtaining horses and keep that group fed.

"For now pick all the oranges and kumquats that you can. The rest of us will gladly eat them.

"Also there is one more thing. Very, very important. Do all you can to find these hemp plants. We need hemp to make clothing instead of skins. However I'm also hoping it will help with our tampon and pad crisis. Maybe with horses and a plow we can make fields of hemp plants and solve both problems.

"That's it. Let's eat." Kate got down off her crate and wasn't surprised to find a smiling Castle right next to her. She even willingly kissed him back when he kissed her.

"Extraordinary," Rick murmured, reminding her what he thought of her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Your Future**

_Chapter 13_

_It is now one week later_

She'd had it with making rope. Kate gave herself an excuse that she needed to check on everyone this morning to see how they all were doing.

She started with the lady that was going to be making clothes for them. "What are you trying to make?" Kate saw her using this device that she didn't recognize. It was however clearly handmade. She was at least making something.

"A couple of women and I have spun enough thread to set up two warp-weighted looms to make fabric. I'm going to teach some of the others how to weave since we're in desperate need of fabric for clothing. I've got one woman who needs pants as soon as we can manage it. Her dress is beginning to shred. She may be down to bra and panties soon," Hannah replied as she stopped working "I'm told all of the skins are being used for other things instead of clothes."

"Yeah, our skins have a lot of uses and we're down to what's needed most and where. Every time I turn around there's a new use. If I can send you more material to use I will. Keep up the good work." Kate left her to head to the next person.

"How are we doing?" Kate was with the man who was making all the skins they had useful and actually had a helper now.

"We're down to our last two skins. I have one and Sandi is down to one," Domingo said.

Kate got closer to him. "How is she doing?" Kate meant the teenager since she knew how teenagers could be. Her own teenage years had not been pretty, even if she didn't understand that fully at the time.

"She learns and has good hands. I'll keep her." Domingo was actually a little proud of her.

Kate stepped over to her. "Keep up the good work, Sandi. We all really need these skins. We're grateful for everything you're doing and proud of you for your hard work. Our two hunting teams will be going out again today, so hold good thoughts that they find something big we can use."

She loved turkey but you couldn't skin it. However, you could pluck feathers off of it and maybe use the feathers on arrows.

Kate moved to the area where oranges and kumquats were being dropped off. They still had a pile but oranges were in high demand now that they had some. Kate saw another ladder for them to pick up and take with them.

She left there to find Castle and see how they were coming. She knew the first corral for the horses was already finished. Right now they were working on another one to put cows into.

Cows meant more meat. However, it also meant milk. Milk meant cheese and a lot of other things. A lot of things started with milk. She had never actually had raw milk to drink. "People better not be lactose intolerant," Kate said to no one.

"Castle." She found him using some rope to tie a pole to a tree to help form a new corral. "It's looking good." They weren't done yet. In fact they were only about one third done by the looks of it.

Just like the horse corral they had taken time to chop down a few trees to try and make the space open, save for the stumps that remained. Getting rid of those trees hadn't been easy. Axes with no saws or even better a chainsaw meant everything took time and lots of muscle.

"What happened to your shirt?" He was topless. Instead of answering her question he just pointed at what used to be his shirt as he kept tying his pole into place.

Kate picked it up and examined it. It was clearly ruined but maybe Hannah could salvage some of it into something else. Nothing got thrown away around here and that included shoes. Even her top had a number of rips in it now and her bra was showing a lot more.

"I'm sorry, Castle. Just don't stay out in the sun too long. We don't have anything for sunburns that I know about," Kate warned him.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you'll think I'm a hunk with a tan and no shirt. …And shorts." Rick showed her one of his legs that had a nice big rip in his pants leg.

"You're already a hunk, Castle," Kate purred and watched him stop tying his log to a pole. "Maybe if you play your cards right you might get lucky tonight," Kate teased him since it was fun. Not that he needed to play his cards right. They were gong to make love tonight again no matter what.

Rick finished and turned to face her. She looked so incredibly sexy with her peek-a-boo bra. "You want me to cut your hair tonight? I used to cut Alexis's hair when she was really little. Until one day she wanted me to stop since she wanted long hair."

That had Kate running a hand through her hair. She used to have it really short but had let it grow longer. Right now it was longer than it had ever been. It was just keeping it clean and tangle free was a pain.

"Only if you let me cut yours." Like his beard his hair was getting longer, too.

"What about your legs?" Rick knew her legs had gotten really hairy. "And you pubic hair. We don't have many mirrors," he reminded her. Most women had kept everything in a purse that none of them had. You only had what was in your pockets.

Kate thought about it and knew trimming her pubic hair was going to be a real pain. She gave in. "Fine, but if you cut me I'll hurt you."

"I'll be as delicate as I can," Rick promised. "You create the cream and we can do it tonight before the sun goes down."

Kate nodded. "I'll get started now."

"We're almost out of rope again. Maybe enough for one end of one pole left," Rick advised her.

"I've got as many people as I can gathering the materials then braiding the rope now. I guess it'll just have to wait." They only had just so many people and a lot to do. The ripening of certain items only happened during a short time so they needed to put it to good use.

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Kate was back to braiding rope since they needed miles and miles of the stuff. However, seemingly everyone all got excited at the same time. She abandoned her job and went to find out what everyone was excited about.

What she soon saw was everyone coming back and they had horses! While her hands might hurt her feet didn't so she ran to join them and learn why they were so damn late.

Someone was actually riding one of them which was a bit of a shock based on what she'd been told before they left. All the others were being led by someone.

Once she got close she saw a new problem. One of them had his arm in a sling. Kate ran to him first. "What happened?" They didn't need broken bones. Their medical ability was limited.

"I think I–" He was interrupted when his wife showed up.

"HONEY!?" She obviously wanted to hug him and kiss him but he was also quite clearly hurt.

Since getting an answer was now going to have to wait a bit Kate turned and said to the first person she saw, "Find our medical team and get them over here."

His wife wanted answers so Kate just listened.

"It was a small herd. One male and a number of females. We knew they were going to be fast but not that fast. It forced us to follow and come up with a plan. We finally found a place that should hold them. We just needed to get them to go into it.

"The male was a little too smart. We got a few of the females but he eluded us. If we didn't get him we would eventually lose the others.

"We're guessing here but we think he wanted his girls back so capturing him after we had a few turned out to be the easy part. Since we had them we decided to take turns in breaking the male while we had them all contained.

"I didn't stay on, simple as that. Though once we had him all the others followed willingly." His face was pale and he was sweating profusely. It was clear that he was pain.

"Honey!?" She would remove his ass after she was sure he was fine. They were about to find out as all three of their little medical team showed up at the same time.

Kate left him with his wife and went to one of her hunting teams to get his perspective of what had happened and why they were late.

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Kate was standing next to Castle as they watched all nine horses slowly wander around their little corral. "Now that we have them what do we do with them? If I'm right they need hay which we don't have. They need grain which we don't have. They need water that we do have but not right here." Kate gestured to the ground. "If we let them out to feed themselves won't they just run away?" Having them but knowing how to keep them was a different matter.

"That isn't as hard as it sounds, though there is a risk," a voice behind her said. Both of them turned to see one of the group that had gone to get them standing behind them.

"We keep the male here and let the females out. They feed but will come back; then simply reverse the process. So long as we have his females he'll never leave. We may not even need all the females locked up. Just a few might do. Over time they'll just come back on their own. The foals the females have will grow up here and never leave," Morton explained.

Kate looked at the horses then back at him. "Sounds like a plan. How's Richards?" She really should go see for herself but she was betting he had already checked in on him.

"They think he has a fracture but they don't think it is truly broken. Certainly not a compound fracture. He has a splint and his arm is immobilized again and will be like that for weeks." Kate was right, he had checked in on him.

"Sounds like we're going to be down a man." Not what they needed. However at least he wasn't dead.

"There's one more thing that might interest you. We came across a large bamboo grove. None of them were overly thick as in diameter but bamboo might be useful. We also saw more orange trees and blackberry bushes. Your hunting group was good. They kept all of us fed." Morton was impressed since it was just three of them doing the hunting.

"Oh, we also saw more cattle. They all had horns but not huge horns like Texas or Mexico cattle but still big. What we didn't see were any gators," Morton added.

"How about dogs? Especially herding dogs that could bring the cattle back since we can't feed them, either," Rick inquired.

Morton shook his head. "They would probably be wolves anyway if you had." He was done telling them about all he knew so he left them.

"Bamboo. What do we do with bamboo?" Kate had heard of bamboo flooring but they couldn't begin to make that.

"Building material like bridges or even roads, cooking utensils, the Chinese used it for medicinal purposes, clothing. Just cut it down, pound it, boil it, and strain it. Diapers even. Bracelets, earrings. Furniture, lots and lots of furniture. Get people up off the ground and away from the bugs. Rugs, toys. Flutes for music. I even read where you can make beer with the stuff.

"We find the really big stuff and we can do a lot with it. Make some really big buildings. Long and wide bridges. Fishing poles. We can do a lot with bamboo." Rick was full of information.

"Baby diapers, huh?" She knew a couple of women that would love that. "Picnic tables!" Kate was catching on. "Bamboo weapons instead of spears maybe. Hunt a little safer. …We need to find out how far and how to get there and get it back here." Kate left Castle to go find answers.

Rick reached out to see if he could pet one of the horses. "You guys, ladies like apples? We don't have any yet but there are apple trees around here. I offered to buy Alexis a pony once. Now we have nine of them."

Rick didn't know just why at first but he couldn't stop the tears. The more he thought about Alexis the harder he cried. It hurt, it really hurt and he couldn't stop.

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Kate was running because someone had told her that Castle was close to the horses, that he was crying heavily and down on the ground.

Sure enough she found him sitting on the ground with his back to the fence that kept the horses in.

She was on her knees in front of him. "Rick? Babe?" She got him to look at her and what she saw was nothing but pain. His tears were flowing heavily and he looked like he was in anguish.

"Rick?" Kate tried again but he wasn't talking to her. So she sat down next to him, held him and let him cry. She checked him out but he wasn't physically hurt so this was something else.

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He had finally slowed down to just sniffling. "Can you talk to me now?" He was hurting and she wanted to understand why.

"I offered to buy Alexis a pony once." His voice was choked with tears.

It was all Kate really needed. He was hurting because Alexis was gone. She knew the two of them were inseparable and that he loved her more than anything or maybe anyone.

She couldn't fix it. Alexis and everyone else was dead. They had talked about this more than once already. Maybe he just needed to finally cry it out. She knew his type of pain quite well. Losing her mother had hurt a lot like this.

She really couldn't fix it so she just held him until finally her stomach complained at her that it was time to eat something. She got up and held his hands.

"Come on, up babe. You can feed me." Kate helped him up. "Try and think about how we can get some spices. Maybe one of these days we can actually start cooking." Kate took him toward one of the fire pits to see what they had. Maybe if she could get his mind off of Alexis that would help.

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Kate had gotten Rick to eat and was even watching him rip open an orange after getting most of the peel off.

"Doing better now?" She caressed his cheek.

Rick sighed heavily. "Yeah, it just suddenly hit me that it was all over. It was my job to be there for her and I wasn't. Meredith cheated on me then divorced me. It became just me and Alexis. What did I know about raising a little girl all alone?" While he was excited about having a little girl he was also scared.

"Alexis was an amazing young woman. You did great with her." Kate was proud of how he had handled it all.

"It was more her than me. She fell in love with learning everything and anything. Any time I tried to get her to be a kid and do something wrong she refused. I was the kid and she was the adult. I just kept trying and trying but she just kept refusing," Rick confessed.

"That explains a lot actually." Kate made her own confession. "I thought you were a jackass when we first met. I wanted you gone so badly."

"That's because I was. Gina and Paula turned me into this playboy to sell more books. To get more woman to read my books. Mostly I just went to the events with women Gina assigned to me then when the event was over I went home to Alexis. That didn't mean that I started to enjoy it." Rick had fallen and he knew it.

"Autograph a woman's chest." Kate knew he had done it and was betting he enjoyed it.

"Yeah, that part I'll admit I didn't mind. It was intoxicating. I wasn't even listening to my own daughter about it. She didn't like what I was doing, but I did for a number of reasons. One was that I was still trying to get Alexis to open up and have some fun. She was always so serious.

"Then you came along. To get you to like me I had to change who I was. Change what I was doing. I had never met anyone like you before. Then I ran head long into your walls and couldn't figure them out. No matter what I did you just rejected it. So I just kept coming back for more. I thought eventually I would figure you out. That was when Alexis began not to like you. She would question why I kept going back. Mother wanted to know why I just didn't talk to you."

"We didn't talk. I wouldn't let us talk," Kate admitted. "I do love you now, Rick. I want to love you."

"I fell in love with you long ago, Kate. The heart wants what the heart wants. I thought I could eventually reach you. …Never thought we'd both have to die to reach it." Life really was different now.

"You're all I have left, Rick. I can't help but love you now. There's nothing left to get between us any longer. No dead bodies, no walls, no people to just suddenly show up and stop us from getting together." Kate couldn't afford to lose him now.

Rick huffed out a laugh. "Espo or Ryan just suddenly show up with a clue to a case."

"Yeah, if we could have just figured out how to talk to each other. If I could have just let go of my walls. But I couldn't and didn't. Something always seemed to happen." Kate felt so very sorry over all of it.

"I still need to get you that ring." Rick smiled at her even if he had no idea what he was going to do.

"I just want to say I do, Rick. That's all I really want to do. I want to be married to you. You're going to have to explain why you married Gina, though. She's someone I don't understand."

"Neither did Alexis," Rick professed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Your Future**

_Chapter 14_

_One month later_

The second corral was suspended since it was meant to hold cattle. Cattle that they couldn't yet figure out how to feed. Holding them was one thing. Keeping them alive was another.

On a more positive note keeping horses was so far working out. It took close to an hour to get the mares back in the corral without letting the stallion get away. Conversely every time he was singled out to be let out he never really went far without his mares.

On yet another positive note, getting a lot of bamboo back to the camp had taken time and to get as much as they could they were doing it in teams. One team went out to cut some down and bring it back. While they were coming back the next team went out and took the machetes from the first group to cut down theirs. Then a third team went out and took the machetes and got to work. They'd done this for a solid week and they now had a huge pile of cut bamboo to work with. They just had to figure out what to do with it all. They had a lot of ideas but they only had just so many people.

They were still picking oranges and kumquats. They had even identified all the apple trees in the area. They just needed to wait for them to come into season.

They now had fourteen teepees set up and occupied. Rick and Kate had learned that they needed a small fire to keep from getting too cold at night. As for deciding who got a teepee that had been more of a challenge than building them. Those with children got first choice even if all of them were the same size. Next came older people since they needed help more than the younger couples.

The smoke went out the top and while a little rain got in it wasn't all that much. The skins managed to keep most of the heat from the fire inside keeping the interior relatively warm based on the size of the fire and the heat it put out.

As a result of needing lots of teepees for a lot of people and having hemp and bamboo to make clothes with, all the skins went to making teepees with. They had another five under construction, however, those five only had poles at the moment.

They were finding that they were stripping the surrounding area of resources already. They needed so many poles that it had them going farther and farther out into the forest to find what they needed.

Kate was presently naked and in Rick's arms as they both listen to it raining. What water got in hit their fire and sizzled. "Hurricane?" Kate questioned with a worried voice. She still feared them.

"Not hurricane season. Probably just another rainstorm, love," Rick replied and kissed her shoulder.

Kate was distracted, wondering just where everyone was. As big as their two main tents were they didn't fit 500 people all that easily. It was why teepees were high on the list to finish.

"Can we make something bigger that doesn't need skins instead of teepees?" Kate asked him.

"With larger bamboo poles? Easily. We just need lots and lots of rope to tie it all together with," Rick noted. Kate groaned. It seemed the answer to one problem only brought up another one. Thankfully while the teepees needed rope to hold all the poles together at the top, they didn't require that much rope.

"So what shall we do while its raining?" Rick smiled wide.

"Well watching TV is out." Kate shifted to face him and was smiling wide.

"Reading books is a no-go," Rick mentioned since while they did have a couple of how to brochures they didn't have any books to read.

"Dinner and a movie won't fly, either." Kate moved in closer and they were now almost kissing.

"We could just…" Rick kissed her and was kissed in return.

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Rick was putting on his moccasins since his dress shoes had finally given up, or at least one of them had, while Kate was putting on her boots.

"I still haven't really gotten anywhere with that guy wearing the expensive suit and alligator shoes. If he's planning something he's playing it close to the vest." Rick hadn't gotten much out of him except what he did for a living and that he was married and his wife was with him on this trip.

"I haven't gotten much out of the women, either. So far all is quiet so maybe it was just a moment of her personal fear over something. Still I'm going to keep my eyes open. I need to think about what system of government we're going to have soon. I'm not a dictator. I just wanted to get us here so we didn't freeze to death." Kate sighed.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll be right beside you. All the way," Rick vowed which earned him a kiss.

"Let's see what we need to do today. For one, to make more teepees we need more skins which means more hunting. They may have to go hunting using horses this time." Kate was worried because they were eating a lot since they'd been here.

"And take a look at that canoe they're working on. That and the net they plan on using to fish with," Rick suggested.

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The canoe was just sitting there at the moment. It wasn't done yet but the biggest tree they could find had been cut down. After that they'd chopped off all the branches. Then they'd used a lot of the rope they'd been hoarding for other projects and getting almost everyone to help them roll it down close to the water.

Kate had watched them start to do something she thought was stupid. It was going to ruin the entire tree they had just spent all this time cutting down and getting it here. They had started burning it! The middle-aged man that had volunteered to make this canoe had told her this was the only way.

"How do you like it?" Doug and his small team had just showed up to keep working on it while Kate and Rick were looking it over.

"This is actually working?" Kate sort of questioned him since it looked like it was working.

"Yep, we cut one side flat which is the bottom. This tells us how far to burn but not go through. Burning softens up the wood then we can hack out all that soft wood. Eventually we'll have a flat bottom, flat sides, and a canoe to sit in. After that we can attach poles to a stabilizing outrigger. If we do this right, we could someday carry it to the coast and do some ocean fishing. The plan is to leave a space to attach a small mast to attach a sail to." Doug was one of those people who talked with their hands. He was waving them all over the place.

"We really need to add fish to our diet so I'll let you get back to work and get out of your way. Keep up the good work, guys." Kate left them to it and found she couldn't wait to finally find out what kind of fish was in this area.

Kate walked with Rick over to the horses where she was going to leave him. They were going to work on getting some of the females used to being ridden for a distance before coming back. She was also going to meet someone to go over whether they should take down the poles for the cattle pen.

"Are we taking this down? We could reuse the poles for teepees and the rope is needed nearly everywhere," Kate inquired when she and Rick joined Walker.

"I'm not into cows, however, my brother and his family are. They have this little dairy farm in southern Virginia. They barely make a profit. Listening to them you wouldn't believe just how little the cost of a gallon of milk you buy makes it back to them. All that milking equipment isn't cheap. Then any time a cow gets hurt or sick they have to have a vet come out to take a look. I don't even want to think about all the horror stories I've heard about what cows do." Walker shuddered.

He had listened to stories about how the cow would try to give birth but couldn't so the vet used chains to pull the calf out with. Then the cow might just keep pushing to get her entire uterus out onto the ground then the vet just pushed it all back inside and sewed the opening closed to keep it in the cow. You would think that killed the cow, but no.

"Anyway, a cow that's producing milk eats about 100 pounds each day of feed, which is a combination of hay, grain, silage, and proteins (such as soybean meal), plus vitamins, and minerals," Walker explained.

"Silage?" Kate had never heard the word before.

"Grass or other green fodder compacted and stored in airtight conditions, typically in a silo, without first being dried, and used as animal feed in the winter," Rick broke in. Kate couldn't help it but she turned to look at him. Just where did he store all this stuff?

"What he said," Walker added since he had it right.

"We need hay for the horses that we don't have. Grain for the horses that we don't have. Let alone vitamins and minerals and soy whatever. …Take it down. We need all those items elsewhere. If we ever solve those problems we can come back to this.

"You now have a job, Castle. Enjoy." Kate gave him a quick kiss and walked to her next site. She just smiled as she listened to Rick moaning. He had worked hard and putting up all the fences; now he was taking one down. He needed help to put it up, he didn't need help to take it down. Besides she would be making rope soon and she wasn't looking forward to that either.

Kate saw one of the unfinished teepees being worked on so she went that way. That was one thing about their site and all these people. To keep the two big tents up they needed to cut down trees to make their open area even bigger. However, they couldn't do anything about the stumps that left behind. They needed the space to put up teepees.

What she didn't know how they were going to solve it was when it came time to start actually farming something. Getting rid of all those stumps wasn't going to be easy.

Kate was just watching as skins got sewn together and then stretched across the poles of the teepee and then held in place. They were almost done when Kate went in search of the next family in line to get a teepee. She was even looking forward to the day that those big tents finally came down. If they did. Maybe they still had a use.

After watching that family celebrate, a happy Kate went over to her stump so she could braid rope that they still had uses for.

Kate was still braiding when this pile of coiled rope landed at her feet. Surprised, she jerked up her head and saw Rick keep walking. "Rick. Babe?" But he kept walking. She didn't understand why he should be angry at her. Yes, she'd made the decision, but they truly didn't need a second corral.

She stopped what she was doing and went after him. She watched him pick up an orange and keep walking. She picked up two oranges then hustled to catch up to him before she lost him.

She knew where he was going so she slowed down to give him some time.

Rick sat down on a downed log and looked out onto the lake. Their teepee was just behind him. They had found this little spot and made it theirs that one day they had a chicken in their teepee.

He knew he shouldn't be angry at her but he was. He was still peeling his orange when he felt then saw Kate sit down next to him. She put one orange in her lap and peeled one of them, not saying a thing, just peeling. If he could give her some space and time to think, she could give him some, too.

Rick was almost done with his when suddenly Kate put her orange in his lap instead of hers.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be angry at you. I was just standing there taking it all apart after working so hard to put it up and I couldn't stop. I threw the poles in a pile close to the horse corral, coiled up all the that rope, and stomped my way over to you. I'm sorry. You're right but that didn't help." Rick popped the last of his first orange in his mouth.

"It's okay, babe, you can be angry at me. I'm a big girl, I can take it. Just so long as you don't stay angry at me." She loved him too much to lose him now.

"If I can put up with Demming and Doctor Motorcycle Boy I can put up with taking apart a stupid corral. …And I still love you." Rick leaned across to kiss her and felt her respond.

"Good, I don't think my heart can take another huge loss," Kate admitted to him.

"Nothing to worry about there. No matter what happens, no matter how angry I get I'll always love you." Then Rick's eyes changed. They looked as hard as stone. "Just don't cheat on me after we get married. That's the one thing I can't accept."

"That won't be a problem. I don't cheat and would rather do without sex at all than cheat. I'll be a single old maid before I do that." Kate kissed him.

"Now, where's my ring?" Kate bumped him and popped the last of her orange in her mouth.

"I'm still working on that. The problem with not having much is that there isn't much. How about a piercing instead?" Rick teased and saw the look she was giving him. "Another tattoo maybe? Since I've seen the one you have now. Which is cute by the way." He liked her little tattoo.

"Ring, babe, I want a ring." Kate gave him a quick kiss.

"What are you going to do for a dress? …We could do it naked." Rick grinned at her. His comment earned him a swat to the arm.

"We're not getting married naked, Castle. You let me worry about my dress, you just worry about my ring. I still have rope to braid." Kate kissed his cheek quickly and got up to go back to work.

However instead of going back to work she went over to the people making skins since she had a favor to ask.

"I have a favor to ask you both, Domingo and Sandi. Castle and I are planning on getting married soon somewhere. I want to know if you can come up with a hide or two for a wedding dress for me. I'd ask for cloth to make it with, but cloth is more wanted than skins are. Hopefully delaying a teepee or something else won't hurt too bad."

"You mean like Pocahontas or something? Maybe lots of feathers?" Sandi offered.

Kate opened her mouth before closing it and thinking about that. "Sure. Maybe I can find some handmade jewelry to go with it. THANKS! Good thinking." Kate began to leave now that she had a plan. "Measurements maybe? I need to talk to Hannah."

Neither of them had anything to measure her with. So Kate had him using his spread fingers instead. Once he was done she went back to making rope.

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"Here you are." Kate saw someone whose name she had learned was named Juana was now standing in front of her.

"I live here making rope." Kate smiled and gave Juana her undivided attention. "What can I help you with?"

"It's not so much me, it's the kids. Okay, maybe it is me. They're driving me crazy. They're making sure everyone suffers since they're suffering. Work, work, work. That's all we here. There has to be something!" It wasn't Kate's responsibility to keep the kids happy. That was up to their parents, but she'd had enough.

Actually there was one thing, but they had been so busy. "I'll get a couple of people to work on it. We actually do have an idea, it's just we have so much to do." Kate stood up. "I'll get started on it. Might not be until tomorrow though."

"Anything! Thank you!" She left Kate and headed over to one of the big tents. Likely to spread the word.

Now Kate needed to find Castle and a volunteer or two. "Hi, babe, I've got a job for you. You remember that checker board and chess board we talked about?"

"I haven't had time to start it. I've even got an idea for a different game. Just haven't had the time." Rick tried to figure out just what she was thinking. "Let me guess?"

"I need you to get started on both. I'm being told the kids are driving everyone mad from all the work they keep having to do. So if you could, please find some people to help you and maybe a carver or two to make chess pieces."

Rick nodded. "I'll get started." He left Kate to go find some help with his plans.

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It had been a long day and most everyone was now eating dinner and just talking.

"How goes your projects, Castle?" She was curious. Checkers she already knew but she really wanted to learn about the other one he had mentioned.

"The board's done. It's mostly just ground using simple junk wood poles to make the squares. We've got one side for pieces done. We'll be done tomorrow"

Kate liked the sound of that. "So that's this other one you have an idea of?" Knowing his imagination she almost feared this one.

"We've got the path all worked out. The trick is making all of the steps. Someone's working on the two dice that we need." Rick stuffed his face with venison from the dead deer.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but what have you come up with?" Kate hated to tell him to drop it if she thought it was stupid.

"It's called _"Go Jump in the Lake." _We have this long meandering path that will have spaces on it. You roll one six-sided dice and you get to go down the path based on what number you roll.

"You remember that old board game called Chutes and Ladders?" Rick looked at Kate who nodded. "Well this game is based off of that. Sometimes you have to go backwards while one will have you skipping forward.

"We're going to have this rope set up to an overhanging tree that we've found. The first one to the bottom gets to hang onto the rope and swing or basically jump out into the lake. Still working on the one that's actually out in the lake." Rick shrugged. "It's all I could up with right now."

Kate was surprised. It was actually an amazingly simple, wonderfully great idea.

"You're marvelous, Castle. Reminds me why I love you." Kate kissed him for it and was sure he was going to be an incredible father for their kids. She just had to be sure before she told him.

Kate wasn't looking forward to being as big as a house or how much this was going to hurt.


	15. Chapter 15

**Your Future**

_Chapter 15_

_It is now one month later_

Kate was making the rounds this morning to check on how things were going.

Seeing smoke rising, she went there first. What she found were three groups slowly burning stumps from trees they'd cut down. Crafting their one and only canoe had shown that it could be done and these three stumps were next on the list to be gotten rid of. They could really use the space.

One of the main 10' x 30' tents had been taken down to make room for a couple of teepees. They now had 28 teepees in total spread out all over. All of them were the same size and they had gotten pretty good at building them. But as many as that might sound it wasn't even half of the number of teepees that they needed.

The tent was down because it had been put up on the very far edge of what had become their compound. They were still branching out and it was likely the other tent would eventually be moved as well. The idea for the future was that those tents would become community tents and not used to live in like they still were.

Seeing burning tree stumps had her moving to the second canoe that was under construction. This tree was just as large. However, getting it here had taken a lot more work since it was a lot farther out. If they didn't need them so badly Kate would have just dropped it. But fish had become a new part of their diet and since it was new, everyone, including her, wanted fish now.

"How's it coming?" Kate questioned the small group that made their canoes.

"Just like last time. We still have to debark and flatten three sides, but we'll get there. Practice makes perfect." Kate left them to it.

Clothing with Hannah was next. "Just the bride I needed," Hannah announced as Kate got close. "I need you for a fitting. Your place or mine?"

"Yours, I don't know where Castle is and since he's not supposed to see it before the wedding it needs to be yours." Kate followed her into her teepee. Kate stripped down to her panties and put on her wedding dress.

Her dress was very similar to one in a children's animated movie that came out decades ago. Her left shoulder was covered. The bodice of the dress was fitted and the skirt flared out in an A-line. There was fringe around the bottom of the skirt, across the top of the sleeve opening, and over and around the sides of the bosom. There was also a braided belt.

It wasn't white, it wasn't long and it wasn't overly ornate. However, it was hers. Besides what the dress didn't have her headdress did. It was made of strands of ivy with wild snapdragons and other late blooming flowers to fill it all in.

"How does it feel?" Hannah asked her after Kate was done putting everything that was part of her wedding dress on.

"The dress itself is incredibly soft," Kate said with a smile. This head thing is maybe a bit scratchy but it really looks nice."

"This headdress is a practice piece. I wanted to make sure it would look all right. I'm going to make another one just before the wedding so the flowers don't wilt. I wish I had a camera. You're gorgeous!" Hannah was all smiles.

"My cell phone has one except like everyone else the battery is dead." Kate wished she had a camera as well.

"Well I think keeping your hair long and letting Rick braid it was the right choice. Maybe a couple feathers right at the end on both sides for the wedding," Hannah suggested since that might be just what she needed.

"Feathers?" Kate wasn't sure she liked the idea of using feathers. The only feathers they had easy access to were turkey and chicken feathers.

"Little ones, maybe." Hannah used two fingers to show her just how little. "Okay, you can change back. We're done and you're ready to get married. Our very first wedding." Hannah was ready to start crying now and not actually wait for the wedding itself.

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Kate left Hannah and headed for their skin makers and found both of them still hard at work. Everyone wanted a home and Kate wanted to give one to everyone. It was just that trying to divide 500 plus people down to groups of two or three meant they needed over 170 teepees and they didn't have anywhere near that many. Building a high rise apartment was out so eventually they were going to take up a lot of space one day.

Kate left them, went to the horse corral, and as expected she noticed six of them missing. Two of their hunting groups were out hunting by horseback today after getting an early start. Riding bareback was something you had to get used to. Another was how to get the horse to go where you wanted it to.

The cattle corral was going back up again. It had been argued that they just needed to get the milk cows into it long enough to milk them then release them. Then they could use the milk for all kinds of things so when that corral was done they would find some milk cows and get started.

Next was a stop at the chicken coops. They actually had three of them now. They were end, to end, to end with ramps on either end. It was decided that they wanted the chickens to keep laying eggs and hatching into little chicks and growing up. Once they had another set of three built and in place next to these three they would revisit if it was time to start taking some of the eggs for their use.

"OH, SHUT UP! The sun has been up for over an hour already," Kate yelled at the stupid rooster. He wasn't the only one they had but he was the only one that crowed before and after the sun came up. They had also noticed that the chickens went pretty much anywhere they wanted and since they had three coops, there were a lot of them.

As she headed for the next site for teepees she finally saw Castle. "There you are." She was happy to see him since he was gone when she woke up yet again this morning.

"GO AWAY!" Rick yelled at her.

"What? …Castle?" Kate took another couple steps.

"I SAID GO AWAY!" He even turned his back on her after yelling at her again.

"Well good morning and I love you, too." Kate stomped away. "At least I'm the one that's supposed to have PMS. Not that I can have PMS at the moment" she muttered. Kate knew she wasn't just late. She was a lot late. She couldn't see it or even feel it but she knew it. She was pregnant and hadn't found the courage to tell Castle. But she would. Just as soon as he stopped yelling at her.

What she didn't get was what he was doing. He'd been doing this for over two weeks. Just going away and working on something. She had never actively sought him out until now. Granted that was because she had found him. Since no one was complaining and things were getting done she hadn't found it necessary to question him. Besides he always came back, made love to her, and told her that he loved her.

As was typical she found five more teepees with poles at the ready. They just needed skins. That was another reason two of their hunting groups were out on horseback. They needed to hunt farther and farther away. To get the skins they needed that meant hunting something the size of a deer and that was proving to be more and more of a challenge.

"KATE!" Kate suddenly heard someone yelling her name. "KATE!" Rick was rubbing off on her and her first thought was that something bad had happened. Drowning came to mind. A child had fallen from a tree and broken something. Whatever it was their tiny medical group with limited equipment and no medicine couldn't fix it.

Then she saw two women and a man running toward her after spotting her. They were all just a little out of breath. "We found these. They were on the ground and while they're useless now we might still be able to use the seeds. Just like the seeds for the orange and other fruit trees." They handed over what they'd found. To Kate it was rotted and the seeds which where large and black meant nothing to her.

"It's a pawpaw. We can eat these," one of them explained.

Kate's eyes opened wide. She knew what a pawpaw was even if she wasn't sure she'd ever eaten one. "Go gather up all the seeds that you can. All you can find then get them to Dotson and get him started. …Nice work, very nice work." Kate liked the idea of finding more food even if its ripe time was past.

Now she needed Castle to find out if he knew when they ripened. It was just last time she found him he had yelled at her. So she went somewhere else instead.

"KATE! KATE!" Great, now someone else was yelling her name. "This better be good news."

She finally saw who was yelling for her and found out why before they said anything at all. At first she thought they had a gator. It wasn't huge but it was big enough.

No, it wasn't a gator but that didn't make it good news. It was a damn shark. "Where did you get that thing? I thought sharks were all salt water." Their river and lake were both fresh water, not salt water.

"It was in the lake. We think it's a bull shark. Probably feeding on the same big mouth bass we've been catching lately or other fish."

"The lake? The same lake we've all been swimming in? The same lake for our _Go J__u__mp in the Lake _game? That's just great!" This was not good news. Not even close to good news.

"Go find Castle. I don't care what he's doing, get him down here." Kate watched him run off, looking for Castle.

Kate stood there looking at the damn thing. It was too late to move. At least no one had seen alligators yet so that was good and bad. Good that no one had been attacked and killed by a gator but bad since they could use the meat and the skin.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

"A shark?" Rick joined Kate who was still looking at this thing.

"That's a shark. About a three footer, I'd say," Rick looked at it carefully.

"Dangerous?" That was all Kate cared about.

"Looks like a bull shark. An adult bull shark can be up to 10 feet long and are considered very aggressive and very dangerous. I don't know about around here but in other parts of the world they are known as man-eaters. …You actually found this thing here?" Rick pointed at the ground.

"They caught it in the lake," Kate said.

"Maybe he's the only one. In any case everyone needs to know before they go swimming in the lake. Still no alligators?" He was more concerned about gators than sharks. Gators could hide under the water, jump out and grab you, drag you to the bottom and drown you, before eating you.

"Not yet," one of the men told him.

"We're moving our teepee today, Castle. I don't know where yet, but we're moving." All this talk of sharks and gators had her concerned about being eaten.

"Castle?" He hadn't answered her yet.

"Moving, got it." Rick wasn't concerned about the stupid shark. He just wanted to know when anyone saw a gator and where.

"What are you working on, Castle?" He was here and he wasn't yelling at her.

"It's a secret."

"Castle?" They were almost married, she didn't want secrets between them. She didn't want to screw this up.

Rick glared at her. "SECRET! Got it?"

"I got it, I got it." She didn't like it but she got it. "Just promise that you'll tell me eventually?"

"You'll be the first to know as soon as I'm done," Rick told her in a much softer voice. "Now gut this guy, then cut him up and soak him in fresh water for at least 48 hours. All sharks pee through their skin so unless you want to eat that you need to soak it first." Rick left them to go back to what he was doing before being interrupted. Then he paused and said, "Be sure and save the skin, though. It can be used as sandpaper." He waved and walked off.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate had Rick and three volunteers to take down their teepee and move it and put it back up again. She picked up the ends of two of the poles and proceeded to drag them behind her. "This way, guys." She'd already scouted out a new location for their home.

"Right here." Kate dropped her poles on the spot. "Little river from the north. Same river goes south. Basically the same river though smaller west and another one east. It's a crossroads and not very deep. Far enough inland that a gator can't jump us and not big enough for a shark. And eventually we'll keep clearing land down this way as we build teepees."

She even helped to put their teepee back up and while they put the skins on she went looking for a shovel to dig the trench around it for when it rained.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate thanked the guys that had agreed to help move them.

"A little ways away, aren't we?" Rick questioned.

"For now but that will change as we build more and more teepees. Besides fresh water is nice and close but not too close. And we can check it out and go skinny dipping later…unless you're afraid," Kate cooed at him with her bedroom voice. Even if her fears had gotten them down here in the first place.

"Challenge accepted, Mrs. Castle." Rick smiled at her.

"Soon, babe, soon. So are you ready to tell me what you've been doing all this time?" Kate hadn't forgotten.

"Not just yet," Rick shared with her. Like during their wedding kind of soon. The thing had been driving him to near madness and he was about to give up. However, his second attempt was working out much better. He just needed to be very careful or he would break it, too, and that would ruin everything.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate was about as ready as she was ever going to be. Thankfully their hunting teams had come back with two big bucks for dinner. Along with everything else they had available, the dinner was ready.

They didn't have any electricity, naturally, so they didn't have any music. They didn't even have any instruments to play anything with. There might be a few ideas but so far no one really had the time.

Kate had stripped down to her panties and was in her wedding dress inside Hannah's teepee and was standing perfectly still while Hannah adjusted the flower and ivy wreath that went on her head. She even let her stuff these two little feathers at the ends of her braids.

Kate had even let them talk her into switching out her boots that were still holding up pretty well for a pair of just finished moccasins. She decided that after the wedding she'd give them to someone who needed them more than she did.

"Will you stop? You're going to get me started." Kate saw tears shining in Hannah's eyes.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I always cry at weddings and this is a big one for us. Our very first and it's your wedding." Kate was still in charge and so far no one was fighting her for the position.

"Let's go see if your groom is ready." Hannah opened her teepee and let Kate go first.

The wedding had the backdrop of a river but not so close that a possible gator got any ideas. They didn't have any chairs for people to sit in. Well, technically they did, they just didn't even come close to having 500 of them.

The smell of roasting deer was the first thing that anyone noticed. The second was everyone standing on two sides with an aisle down the middle of the crowd.

The oldest male they had had volunteered to escort her down the aisle.

Ramsey held out his arm for her to take. "Ready?"

Kate willingly took it. "Thank you for this." She was truly touched. Her own dad was long since dead and was never going to get to do this.

"I've had practice. You'll do great." Ramsey patted her hand and walked her to where they would start.

Somehow despite the lack of instruments everyone began humming the wedding march. It brought tears to her eyes as they slowly, step by step, walked down the aisle.

At the end Rick was waiting for her inside a circle of flowers. He was dressed in his same old slacks and shirt. And even though one of his shoes had given out on him he was wearing them both. He was also wearing a jacket that someone must have loaned him. He even had a tie. He was the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

Ramsey left her on her side of the circle of flowers and she stared at a smiling Rick. She knew she would always love him and returned his smile.

They didn't have a Bible or any other religious items save for occasional necklaces a few women were wearing. Ramsey's wife Angela had attended her fair share of weddings and so had volunteered to officiate.

She did it from memory until she asked if they had something they wanted to say.

"I love you with all my heart, Rick, and I'm still so very sorry I made us wait for this day." If she had just talked to him before Gina had shown up, who knows where they would be now.

"You've always been worth it, Kate. I've told you before that you're extraordinary and I still mean it. I love you with every fiber of my heart. Always" Rick saw her tears flowing a little more unabated.

"I don't suppose either of you have rings?" Angela asked softly since that was next.

That had Kate snapping her head up to look him in the eye. HE HAD A RING?! He'd said he'd left it behind.

Rick repeated the words after Angela and slid it onto Kate's finger. He even had to push a little since it was a bit tight.

Kate only had eyes for her ring. It didn't have a diamond. In fact it didn't have any gem on it at all. Though it was extremely colorful. Maybe a little thick for her hand but she couldn't help but stare at it.

She barely heard Angela say the words that they were now husband and wife and that the groom may kiss the bride.

Kate beat him to it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the passion she could muster.

Then flowers rained down on both of them as everyone watching must have had a handful or two and threw them when they got close enough.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

She was Mrs. Castle and she loved the sound of it. She was standing next to him, nibbling on her piece of venison. "Is this what you've been doing these last few weeks?"

"I didn't want you to see it before the wedding. The first one shattered into a gazillion pieces and I feared so would all the others. I had to come up with a different method so I've been filing away on that thing for days.

"Someone found this hunk of green quartz and I managed to split it into two pieces to make you a ring." Though getting that sensitive piece of rock to do what Rick wanted without fracturing had not proved to be easy.

"You made me a ring." Kate didn't know how she could love him more but somehow she did. "What do we do for a honeymoon?"

"Pray we're both asleep on our plane, that we get to wake up and aren't crashing."

Leave it to Rick to come up with a wild theory. "I don't think even your little gray guys with big black eyes are going to get us out of this."


	16. Chapter 16

**Your Future**

_Chapter 16_

Rick let Kate find a comfortable spot to sleep on that allowed him to hold onto her. "How do you feel, Mrs. Castle?"

"Happy." Kate almost didn't believe it herself. "Rick, there's one thing I need to tell you." Kate waited but he didn't say anything so she kept going. "I'm pregnant."

Rick was willing to either just sleep or make love to her, which ever she wanted. However, hearing that wasn't what he was expecting to hear. "Pregnant?" Had he heard her right?

"Almost two months." Kate was pretty sure but without a doctor or test sticks, she was only pretty sure.

Now Rick was up on his knees, looking down at her. "We're having a baby?" Surely she wouldn't tease him about this. This was big!

"Well I'm not having am alien," Kate said dryly. Rick kissed her with every bit of passion he had and she kissed him back with just as much.

"How did I not notice?" Rick couldn't believe it. He'd been keeping track of her periods so that he could help her with them and here she was pregnant. "Morning sickness?" He hadn't seem any sign of it so far or had she been hiding it from him?

"Not so bad, actually. I get a little queasy sometimes but really not that often. I guess I'm lucky in that regard." She had heard of worse. Women that had actually had to be admitted to the hospital because of it.

"Lucky you. Meredith had it bad with Alexis. And she took it out on me each and every time. You'd think I was doing it on purpose. Ruining her life forever. Her laugh wasn't so bad, but she could turn that sound into something that had more in common with nails over a blackboard. If she was miserable she made sure I was miserable." Rick shook his head at the memories.

"I'm going to need your help, Rick. I've never been pregnant before." She was actually a little scared. Not so much about this part, but later when it was time to give birth. They didn't have any kind of pain medication and she was worried about that.

"Anything, everything. I'll be here, Kate. I want to be here. I can't think of anyplace else to be. I love you!" Rick kissed her to make sure she knew that for a fact.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was holding onto Kate when she woke up the next morning. It was right where she liked him to be. As she lay there she turned some things over in her mind and decided that today was as good a time as any to find out what this group wanted in their future.

"Time to start our day, babe." Kate patted him and kissed him and got up. The first thing she wanted to do this morning was to take her ring off her finger. If he had had trouble making it it might mean it was fragile and she didn't want to lose it.

"What are you doing?" Rick watched her take her ring off her finger and take off her necklace that still held her mother's ring.

"Moving my ring somewhere that I can't lose it. It means too much to me. It's the only wedding ring I'm ever going to have so I can't afford to lose it by accident," Kate explained. "Besides, if it was hard for you to make, it must be easy to break and I'm not breaking it. And this puts it closer to my heart."

Kate suddenly found herself enveloped by Rick's arms. "Listen to Kate Beckett getting all mushy on me," he teased her. But he was touched that she was putting his ring closer to her heart.

"Good thing I'm a Castle now then," Kate said and kissed him.

However, before she started her day and since they were married now, she had a question. "Rick, why did you marry Gina?" He was divorced twice and while she understood Meredith, she didn't understand Gina.

"Gina." Rick knew this day was coming, but he could wish that it hadn't. "Remember, I was raising Alexis all by myself. Since she meant so much to me I kept thinking about her not having a grown woman besides my mother around to help her with things. Things I feared I wasn't suitable to answer or help her with." In the end he had proved he was more than capable of handling everything that had come up. He hadn't really needed Gina after all.

"All there was at the time was all those _big titted blonde bimbos_ as you put it and Gina. All those women I went places with that Gina arranged were, let's just say not suitable to even date let alone marry.

"Gina and I were at least in the same line of work. We were compatible on paper. So I asked her to marry me and she said yes. But even before that and certainly after I never really let her get close to Alexis." Rick huffed out a bitter laugh. He had done it for Alexis and yet here he was, still not able to share her through no fault of his own.

"Even though that was why I had married her in the first place, all we did was fight. Suddenly my editor was my wife and I learned the hard way that that was a mistake. I was so stuck on Alexis having a mommy and daddy that I wasn't thinking straight. If anything Gina became worse after we were divorced and the divorce cost me a small fortune." Rick was basically done with explaining Gina and why he married her.

"Well, I don't want your money. That's not why I love you, Rick. Don't get me wrong, being married and rich would have been nice but your money didn't mean that much to me."

"Good, because I'm broke now. All the money I have is what is in my wallet. Not that I have anything to spend it on." Money was useless here.

"I don't even have a penny so I'm more broke than you are," Kate said. She poked him which led to tickling which led to…other things.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Stay right next to me, Castle. I don't know what's going to happen now." Kate found a crate to stand on and whistled twice to get everyone's attention since most everyone was here.

"I have a few things this time and one big one to talk about. First, the number of teepees that we have and how many we need. It isn't hard to do the math. At three people on average with over 500 people we'll need a lot of them. We have a list and if anything changes who gets the next one can be revisited. The idea as it presently stands is that we'll continue to clear the trees to the south to make room for more teepees.

"Many thanks for the wedding and all everyone did to make it successful. I owe each of you for all that you did. Especially Hannah for my dress and wreath. I loved my wedding so very much.

"Crops! We've been collecting seeds so we can plant them and start growing our own food instead of hunting for it. To do that means we need fields to plant them in. That means chopping down a lot of trees then burning away all those stumps. Crops are still a distant dream, however, maybe we can do it on a small scale.

"Today we need to finish the corral for the milk cows then capture a few and milk them then release them to do it all over again next time. 

"Finally, I want to talk about who's in charge of this group. My job was to get us all here so we didn't freeze to death up north. Well, we're here. The basics for everything has been set up for our future.

"So one month from now we're going to have an election. Think about what kind of system you want to have and who you want to lead it.

"There's only one thing to keep in mind. We will **not** be repeating the same mistakes that got us into this mess. Weapons are to be used for hunting only and I do mean hunting only. We will **n****ot** be using them to kill each other for any reason.

"We have to learn from all the mistakes that we made. We have to do things differently. Money here is useless so we aren't going to have any. Now or in the foreseeable future.

"We as a race did a lot of things wrong and we are **not** going to be repeating them.

"We have been given a chance and we are going to use that chance to the best of our abilities. So talk to each other. Come talk to me. It's time to decide just what the human race means this time.

"Are we killers and that's all we are? Can we learn something better?

"Keep in mind for the planet to be dead that means each generation made the planet worse. We need to set an example for future generations or we might as well have died in those six plane crashes and let nature do what it wants to do without the human race on it.

"Think about it. Talk about it. One month, people." Kate was done; she got off her crate and stood next to Rick.

"Too much?" Kate asked him.

Rick smiled. "Does the word extraordinary still mean anything to you?" She was still extraordinary to him.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

It didn't take long before people approached Kate to talk to her, telling her that she should just keep doing what she had been doing. Being in charge and staying in charge until she didn't want to be any longer. Kate thanked them and told them that they still needed to think about it. To be sure this was what they wanted. She was no dictator and didn't want to be seen as one.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had a question so she made her way to the horse corral where their hunting teams should be thinking about going out again today using the horses.

"Is using the horses working out? I mean no saddle and not much control that I can see. And you have to get what you kill back somehow." Kate just wanted to make sure this plan was working for them.

"We're going a lot farther out now, partly because we have to to find any game to hunt. We've got an idea on how to get it back this time so we'll see. So yes, the horses are a big help. We've even seen another herd of horses when we decide to add more. It's working." That was good enough for her. They were the ones doing the hunting, not her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate stayed close to the horse corral since today was going to be the day Rick had set aside to do his own hunting. Only in his case it was possibly going to be a lot harder.

Finally she watched as Rick and three of their hunting groups showed up. The hunting group had weapons while Rick had two of their four two-man dome tents. He handed off one of them before going over to Kate.

"Please be careful. I'm not raising this baby alone." This had the potential to be dangerous and that alone had Kate worried.

"We'll be great. Nothing to worry about." Rick wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you looking for again?" She knew he was after what they needed to make homemade penicillin but not the actual items.

"Lactose Mono-hydrate, cornstarch, sodium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, potassium phosphate mono, glucose mono-hydrate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate." Rick listed them all off easily.

Kate still didn't understand how he kept all that in his head but somehow he did.

"We might be gone a while. At least two weeks if not longer," Rick warned her again. Even after finding it all it was going to have to be filtered and he still had to figure out how to do that yet. Knowing and doing where two different things.

"Just come home, that's all I ask. If you don't find something then you don't. I just want my husband back." She knew him. He would do something stupid and get himself hurt, she just knew it.

"I promise to be very careful. We've come too far to fail now." Rick kissed her soundly and headed over to his horse. He stood there for a bit to figure out how to get on a bare back horse since he'd never done it before.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was walking around just checking things out when she saw a group headed her way. It had only been a few hours so it couldn't possibly be about what government they wanted and who was going to be in charge.

"Hi Kate, we have a question for you." She looked at the others for some support but didn't get much. "It's December and we were wondering if there were any plans for Christmas. A celebration of any kind?"

"Christmas." That was not what Kate had been expecting. She was beginning to wonder if Castle had left too soon. She knew Christmas was more his thing than hers.

"I don't know what to tell you. When I was a homicide detective I didn't celebrate Christmas except to offer to work it so that other officers who had families could celebrate it together as a family.

"We don't have Christmas lights which doesn't matter since we don't have electricity. Pretty sure Florida doesn't get snow. No shopping malls so no shopping for Christmas presents. Beyond that I don't know what to tell you.

"Create your own, I suppose. Make up a plan and get some help to make it work. If you want to celebrate Christmas then you're going to have to come up with your own celebration. If there's something you need maybe I can help. Just not sure what I can do." Kate was at a loss to know what to do for Christmas.

"I was too busy trying to get everyone here that I didn't even celebrate my own birthday. I'm afraid that you're on your own." Kate watched them walk off talking to each other.

Depending on just how long it took Castle to find what he wanted he might actually miss whatever that group came up with.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was done with her day and was stripping to get ready for bed. Not that anyone had a real bed yet. Those were still a long ways off, she was sure.

Laying down to try and sleep showed her just how much she missed having Castle with her. He hadn't even left behind any clothes for her to smell to remind her of him.

Looking at her dad's watch that miraculously still worked told her it had only been one hour more or less. Worse she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon. She got back up, got dressed, and went back outside.

She wasn't hungry but she took an orange anyway so she was doing something. Anything to keep her hands busy.

It was amazing just how quiet this place got in the middle of the night. So very few people were up.

Suddenly someone saw her wandering around doing nothing. It was one of the older folks. "Insomnia?"

"Something like that. I used to be able to sleep on my own with no trouble. Now suddenly I can't," Kate admitted.

"Worried about what people will choose to do?" He meant the vote Kate wanted.

"Not so much that. Anything they decided will hopefully be a good choice. It's too early for us to do any real damage to the planet, however, what we do now will affect what our children do in the future.

"My job showed just what man was capable of doing to each other. I really would like to think that we're better than that, but you never know," Kate shrugged.

"It may be defeatist but I think man is doomed. Maybe we do well, but the future's something none of us are ever going to know. We over populated the planet and carved up the planet into different countries. Then we fought each other because we didn't trust the other. Who says we won't do the same thing this time?" he questioned her.

"We don't know," Kate said. "We can only do what we can now. The rest is out of our hands. Perhaps if we teach our children better maybe things will change.

"Those people were desperate when they stole us from crashing planes then sent us far into the future. I mean look what we have to work with. Castle's right when he talks about us being the Flintstones. We're simply not living in caves."

"At least we don't have dinosaurs. Though living in houses made of massive rock slabs might not be so bad. Even if it did take dinosaurs to make them." He laughed a little at the memory of that cartoon.

"Rock televisions," Kate added and it made both of them chuckle.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, Kate. The rest of us will follow. You're the only real leader we have even if you're not used to it.

"Look around. Who is going to replace you? We don't even have a CEO of any company here. That private in maintenance is the only military we have.

"Secretary, teacher, homemaker, auto repair, software engineer. You know more about all the people here than anyone. You had my vote before we even left to come here. You've still got it. Without you we would be freezing and dying, trying in vain to get here. Just like those kids." He shook his head at the kids' stupidity.

"Thanks, but I was just trying to do what I could. It looked like someone had to," Kate said.

"I'm not overly religious though I'm betting several here are. Something to keep in mind by the way, but there is a saying.

_The meek shall inherit the Earth._

"So long as none of us become homicidal killers maybe it'll just come true. Better get some sleep. People are going to have questions about just where you want to take us before they decide what to do.

"Between you and your new husband, we just might do pretty well. What our children end up doing is out of our hands provided we teach them the right things." He got up and left Kate.

Kate sat there, wondering what to do. "Children." Kate laid her hand on her belly. "School!" Now she had one thing that she needed to solve and do it before the vote. She knew they had one teacher and one retired teacher that was just going to have to come out of retirement. But they were going to need more than just those two.

What she didn't know was how to solve the religion question. More than one armed conflict had happened because of religion.

"School first, religion later." Kate decided to solve that problem first. It did get her back up and headed home to get some sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Your Future**

_Chapter 17_

_Epilogue_

_It is now 6 years later_

Kate was awake and just lying there, listening to the silence. In a few moments that would all be changing so she was just lying there, relishing the quiet.

Clothes was still a problem. No one, including them, had diapers though thankfully the boys were potty trained and their daughter had caught on just a few short months ago. However, since clothing was still limited it meant save for having all five of them wearing something at their waists, they were naked when they slept. Their sleeping areas were at least a little divided so each of them had a touch of privacy, even if it wasn't all that much.

And since there were five in their family they had a brand new teepee that was a lot bigger so it would fit them all. The twins were 5 while their daughter was 3. None of them were of an age where they were going to get their own teepee anytime soon.

Then Rick moved and she started to reach for him to keep him quiet yet all he did was roll over and stay asleep. Kate listened to the quiet until she remembered what today was. So she got up and went through her little clothing pile.

Her top was now a rag, her panties were long gone, her bra didn't fit her any longer thanks to having 3 kids. Worse her blue jeans had stopped fitting her years ago when she was pregnant with the twin boys. That left her with her wedding dress, a top, and a mini skirt, all made from skins. The top was a little short so it left a tiny portion of her midriff exposed. It was a bit sexy for this so she put on her wedding dress followed by her moccasins.

Everyone was wearing moccasins now since even her stout boots weren't in the greatest of shape any longer.

Kate stopped, looked at Lyn, and brushed some of her hair away. She could feel her love for her run through her body. She might be 3 but to Kate she looked like a mini her. It was almost a little eerie.

Moving on to Levi and James she watched them sleep. Twins had been a surprise. Thankfully their medical team was ready for her save for the pain she'd had to go through to give birth to them. One had tired her out completely only to be told there was another one.

She loved all of her children but while she wouldn't admit it to anyone, including her husband, these two held a special place in her heart. They were her first and she learned that Rick had been right. She loved them before they were born. Holding them after just giving birth to them told her she loved them more than anything.

These two had a piece of her and a lot of Rick. Kate ran her hand through their hair and left the teepee so she could start her day.

Everyone lived in a teepee. Theirs just happened to be the largest one for now. They had 179 teepees now and save for theirs they were all the same size. They were built and placed in groups based on where the fire pits for cooking were located. They had four fire pits so they had four groups or districts, if you preferred that term.

Kate went to the closest and sliced off a piece of wild boar and chewed while she walked. Thanks to her talk yesterday she found a group already in place. Today was going to be picking the first of the ripe oranges and kumquats. They still had a few apples left over as well as some blackberries and pawpaws. The bananas were long gone, though.

What she wanted to do before this group moved out was to walk their various orchards a little. All the trees were still young and not yet producing much. Thankfully only a few had died so far. Next to the trees was the field full of hemp plants. Far outside of both of these was the bamboo fields.

Their fields were basically a large arc beyond one end of their teepees. Today they were going to start another arc to plant still more trees, hemp, and everything else over time.

By the time Kate was back the group was gone. She decided to move to what was now the center. Here their two old 10' x 30' tents had been moved to. They were side by side now instead of end to end. One was used as a school house where all three of her children would soon be. School was handled mostly by the two real teachers that they had. Everyone knew something and they couldn't afford to lose what they knew. What everyone knew had to be passed down or it might be gone for conceivably a really long time. So yes, their two teachers were in charge, but they had a lot of temporary teachers and that included her.

The other tent contained both medical and religion. In the end Kate had left it to individual people to pray as they pleased. It was left to the families to do as they pleased within their family. They could hand down their religious beliefs, however, they didn't teach everyone else unless they showed an interest.

Kate saw three people in this tent being tended to by a woman Kate knew was their medical student. "How are they?" Something had worked its way from one teepee to another in a tight area.

"Their fever broke last night," Suzanne said, wiping her brow with the back of her hand. "They'll be here until tomorrow morning just to be sure. But they're fine. Your husband's knowledge of penicillin has worked out perfectly. We might have actually lost someone without it."

Kate knew full well that they didn't have needles to give people shots and wouldn't for a long time. Their penicillin came in two forms: pills and a cream.

Kate went to all three to make sure they were doing fine before going back to her medical student. "How is this chemical set coming?" They had a table set up and what had been useless was now being put to use.

"Depends on what it is we want. We just don't have a lot of the chemicals that we need to make things with. And without a dependable fire source we're even more limited. Though it does work, especially if we want to make penicillin," Suzanne commented.

"Well I've got more to check on this morning." Kate was ready to leave but she stopped her.

"Kate… I really am glad that you're still in charge. You're all we have. We would have frozen to death without you. We also wouldn't have all this without you." She needed for Kate to know she was wanted.

"I guess what I'm saying is please don't stop. Living here is hard enough as it is." She, like everyone else including Kate, missed what they used to have.

Kate had already learned just that when the results of her vote came in. Amazingly no one else wanted the job so while not everyone had actually voted, no one else got a vote. Kate simply took it upon herself to keep the job with Rick's support. Thankfully by now everyone had broken up into different jobs so she didn't need to micromanage any longer. She just needed to check on everyone every few days.

Done there, she went to the corrals next. They now had five corrals in total, three for horses and two for cows. Today, at least for now, all of the horses were in their corrals while the two for cows were empty.

They had solved the problem in what to put the milk in. Using a downed tree, of which they had several to chose from, they had made slats that had a tongue and grove system. Made a round bottom and inserted them into the slats. Then they used really narrow bands of wood along with lots of rope to hold it all together. Once it started to leak they started work on building another one. They even had churns to make butter with. And they'd found a way to make cheese.

From there she made her way to the chicken coops. They presently had four rows of three and today they were going to build a fifth row of three. They had chickens everywhere feeding themselves and going into the coops to lay eggs. They were able to collect eggs now. Once the fifth row was done and full they would start to add chicken to their diet.

All four of the old two-man dome tents were now only used by the groups that went out hunting. Each group was now going out farther and farther to hunt what they needed.

Her dad's watch had finally stopped working and since they had no way to fix it, it was taken to the school tent to be used as a tool to teach with. She felt like it was time for school to start so she walked that way.

Along the way she saw people everywhere doing either what they wanted or needed to do. It actually felt pretty good. Off in the distance she caught a glimpse of the bee hives that they had set up. They didn't really have much to put the honey in so they raided the hives when they needed some.

Walking into the big tent she found her husband and her children along with all the other younger children starting school. Kate knew today was going to be Rick's day to teach. He had so much information in that head of his that needed to be shared. Just how he did that was beyond her.

What they did have was small thin slats of slate and an early chalk to write with.

As Kate stood just outside and watched, since she didn't want to interfere, she observed as Rick had a totally different way of teaching. She remembered sitting at a desk with her teacher at her desk. While Rick had a space, he never stayed there. He walked between each and every child and talked the entire time. She smiled. Rick had gone from a writer, to hunter, and now he was one of their teachers. She was still watching until she heard her name being called.

She saw two of her hunting groups that were headed for the horse corrals. She walked quickly to join them. "Have you got everything you need?" These six people had a plan that she'd approved. It was only because they were picking ripe fruit that she had approved it. With them being gone meant they would be down to one hunting group and that group would be without Rick since he was a teacher now.

"Horses, axe, lots and lots of rope, and our weapons. We've even got a bag of oranges to take with us. The plan, as you know, is to kill a few and gut them right then and there. Build a travois for several horses and pull them behind three of the horses. We're hoping for 3 or 4 gators per travois," Jake told her as the others got the horses ready.

"This should be good for us. Gator meat and gator skins for all kinds of things." Shoes were the first thing to come to her mind. "Just don't get yourselves killed doing this." Getting gators wasn't going to be worth it if they lost someone.

"We plan on being careful. Just be ready for us to be gone for something like three weeks." They had a lot to do to accomplish this little task.

"I think we're ready. We still have one hunting group for wild game and horses for them to use. And we now have four canoes to fish with. We haven't even seen another shark since that first one." Kate thought they were ready.

"We'll be back." He left Kate and got his horse ready. Kate stayed long enough to watch them leave.

Kate headed for the two that were making skins for lots of uses. The teepees were done for now so all these skins now were for clothes. Like herself, literally everyone was wearing skins now unless they needed cloth.

The four weaving cloth were next. Hannah had some help now. One was a teenage boy who had expressed an interest in learning so now there were four looms holding varying lengths and widths of cloth. All of their cloth was a mix of bamboo and hemp. So far it seemed to be working out. There were also six people spinning the fibers into thread, a very slow and tedious process. But without them there would be no cloth.

Next Kate went to one of the spots where ripe fruit was being dropped off. She helped herself to an orange and peeled it as she walked. Since rope was always in need she made her way to her stump and started braiding rope.

She might be in charge, but everyone needed to work at something and this was her spot.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

_It is now five years later_

Kate was leaving the school tent after being a teacher. In her case she was teaching Russian. All of the kids were learning English and Spanish thanks to other people. She was the only one that spoke Russian so she had tagged herself to teach it.

"Mom, can we go swimming?" Both of her 10-year-old sons had been in the class and now that the class was over they wanted to do something else.

"Only if there's an adult lifeguard," Kate told them.

"MOM!" Levi didn't like that answer.

"Jeez, Mom!" James didn't like it either.

"Those are the rules and you both know it. No adult lifeguard, no swimming. It's as simple as that. If you want to go swimming so badly go find yourself an adult who agrees to be your lifeguard. If I find out you went swimming without one and you're both grounded for a week. You know what that means," Kate reminded them since they'd both been grounded before.

"Yes, Mom," Levi said in defeat.

"You can always go practice your shooting with a bow and arrows. Go play checkers. Go gather up enough people and play soccer." Kate offered some alternatives for them to try instead.

"YES! Thanks, Mom." James was happy and ran off with his brother right behind him.

It made Kate happy. They weren't doing something they shouldn't. Playing soccer meant playing with the other kids which in their case meant playing with girls.

Soccer had been another game that had come straight from Rick's mind. Soccer balls, like most all balls, needed a rubber inner lining that held compressed air. Naturally they didn't have any rubber let alone compressed air. However, Rick had come up with a leather ball that he had stuffed as tightly as he could with animal hair and then with Hannah's help they had sewn it closed. They even had two now in case one of the balls burst a seem.

The nets for the goal posts were easy. Getting a soccer field marked off, then level enough and not filled with holes that could be stepped into and break an ankle, had taken them weeks to complete.

Since the medical tent was close Kate went there next. "What are you guys making?" They were using the chemistry set for something.

"Slime."

"Say that again?" Had she heard right?

"Slime. It's for the little kids to have some fun with. It's perfectly safe and totally gross. Perfect for little kids," Mike told her.

Kate had to admit that for little kids it did sound fun if not exactly useful. "Okay." She still wasn't so sure. "Did my husband put you up to this?" It sounded all Castle to her.

"I plead the 5th," Kate heard a moment or two later.

"Uh-huh." She knew it. "Just don't make too much of this stuff." Kate left them to it and would question her husband about it later.

Leaving the medical tent she saw her older daughter running to the soccer field. In Kate's eyes the word was out. There was a soccer game in progress; her older daughter had long legs and could run forever.

She grinned as she walked to the horse corrals. They still had the same three for horses and two for milk cows. However, not far away were the ever expanding chicken coops. They had five of them now. Each was actually three end to end with ramps on each end and skins for roofs.

Eggs were every weekend and once a week they had a limited amount of roasted chicken for their diet. At the rate they raised chickens they were going to have to start on a sixth soon.

Not overly surprised she found Castle with Jennifer, their younger daughter who was two and a half now. Castle had her on a horse and was holding onto her and the horse as he walked them both around the enclosure.

All three hunting teams were out at the moment. Two of them were out hunting for gators since the previous trips had turned out really well. The meat had been a nice change and their skins were being put to good use so there was just the horse, Castle and her daughter in this corral.

"MAMA!" Kate had been spotted and Jennifer waved until Rick got her to put her hands back on the horse's mane. Kate simply smiled, waved back, and waited for both of them to be done.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate watched her little girl do her best to run from the horse after Rick put her down, right for her. Kate scooped her up and covered her face with kisses. "Did Daddy give you a horse back ride?" Kate asked her.

"Horsey cool. Do Mama ride?" Like most little kids Jennifer was full of questions.

"A little. Looked to me like you're much better than me." It wasn't the truth but since Kate hadn't been on any of these horses since they had gotten them, it might look like she was better than her mommy.

"Where others?" Jennifer asked her next.

"Your brothers and sister are playing soccer. When you're a little older you can join them." Kate doubted she even understood the rules let alone could run fast or long enough.

Rick joined them. "How was your Russian class?"

"It was fine. No one's going to be fluent in it for a while yet. Though we're getting there." Kate had hopes of not being the only one to speak Russian eventually.

"Anything happening today?" Rick inquired.

"Not for me. I'm done for the day. Why, what have you got in mind?" Kate knew that look. Castle was up to something and was trying to surprise her.

"Where are the boys and Lyn?" Rick asked her instead of answering her.

"Playing soccer." Kate just knew he was up to something.

"We can still do it." Rick thought three was enough.

"Do what, Castle?" He wasn't explaining anything yet and she still hated surprises.

"Follow me." Rick went south and Kate still had Jen in her arms so she walked next to Castle, not knowing just what they were doing.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

She followed him all the way out into one of their fields. It had taken work and a lot people with green thumbs but they actually had several fields with various new plants. Hops, tea, and watermelon. It was just that some of it was being raided by animals or birds. Actually she wasn't sure which was worse.

Then when they stopped Kate saw all kinds of stuff on the ground. Castle had obviously planned ahead for this.

"What's this, Castle?" It looked like an odd assortment of junk. There was even some really old and badly ripped old clothes that were mostly just rags now.

"We're going to make a Castle scarecrow. Just the three of us," Rick informed them.

"What scar cow?" Jennifer wasn't following.

"Scarecrow, honey. It's supposed to scare birds away," Kate explained to her. "We already have scarecrows, Castle." None of them worked so why did they need another one?

"This one's going to be different. Just help me," Rick asked them.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

Kate was following what Rick was doing mostly, even if Jennifer wasn't really all that much help.

Kate had Jennifer in her arms while watching Castle hold onto it. Then he shoved it and it started to spin. As it spun it flailed its arms all over the place. Rick ducked and joined them to watch it spin.

"It has a sail!" Kate saw it now. It was made mostly of bamboo so it was really lightweight, unlike the others. The old clothing had been ripped into strips and when the long and lightweight arms flapped about as it spun, if there was a wind, it might actually scare the birds away.

"This is genius, Rick!" Kate was impressed. "Can we make more of them?" She would find people to help him make some more.

"Easily. …Like it?" Rick was talking to his daughter who had a wide smile as she watched it flap around while it whirled around.

Kate looked at the sky. "We need to get moving, Castle. It's supposed to be ready today." She wanted to be there when they had it working and not just another test.

"Let's move then. Should I go get the boys?" Rick asked her.

"Let them play. Maybe they'll sleep like the dead tonight," Kate said in response. They still had just the one big teepee. They were the largest family in the group. No one else had four children. There were a number of families that had four in total now with two kids. If anyone had a third they would get a larger teepee to hold them all.

|_|** O **|_|**-|_|-**|_|** O **|_|

It took them some time to reach it and not surprisingly a lot of people were there to watch it start working.

Kate wasn't in charge of it. Though the design had come from Rick's brain.

"Everyone ready?" Colin yelled. "Here we go." He activated the diverter and it sent water from the river onto the wheel that made it spin. Inside the little building somewhere was a set of wooden cogs that should be spinning. All someone inside had to do was put them into gear and they would start to spin a stone that weighed a ton, almost literally. It alone had taken weeks to just make let alone move into place. It even had groves chiseled into place.

Now all they needed was the grain that was planned for next. The grain would get ground down and turned into a flour. With flour they could do a lot.

They had a little rye, barley, oats, and wheat. The fields for each were small for now. They only had just so many people and most everyone was already busy doing something. Plus only a select few of the horses were used to plow fields so far.

This was mostly the future.

"It works, babe." Kate loved it. This little mill meant a lot to them all. It was the start of the next phase of their lives.

Horses and hunting had gotten them a lot of what they had now. "We just might have a future after all," Kate commented.

So far the fights had been few and far between. They'd been mostly raised voices and occasionally shoving but not dangerous. Just differences of opinion. Only those people that went hunting had the most dangerous weapons.

They were growing and getting bigger.

"Not just our future, Kate. Everyone's future. Even your future." Rick tickled Jen which had her laughing and trying to escape her dad's fingers.

"MAMA!" Jennifer got out between laughs. Her mother needed to protect her from her dad's fingers.

Kate freed Jennifer from Rick's terrible tickling fingers and took her in the teepee for a nap. She made sure that her daughter had her favorite rag doll and she sang her a lullaby. Once the toddler was asleep Kate slipped out of the teepee.

She slid her arms around Rick's neck and tugged him down so she could kiss him. Instead she nibbled on his ear then whispered, "I'm late, babe."


End file.
